Hi! My name is Andrea Alfonsi, a third-year medical student at SUNY at Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine. I will be traveling with Floating Doctors to Bocas del Toro, Panama this Spring to help with the healthcare that this amazing organization continues to provide to its patients. Floating Doctors is an organization with international partners of students and medical professionals with the common goal of empowering Latin American indigenous peoples in their fight for equal access to healthcare, education, and security. I aspire to become a primary care physician who works primarily in rural settings. Being of Venezuelan Moreno (mixed-race) origin, I have a passion for serving Latin American, indigenous, and other mixed-race populations. Floating Doctors operates in one of Panama's independent indigenous regions, the Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca. I know that this trip will help form an integral part of the foundations for my career aspirations, and I hope to find those who are willing to assist me in funding this experience.

Flight expenses are $1,000, and all other expenses (lodging, meals, and transportation) are $850.

I have been terribly busy with clinical rotations and preparing for my upcoming shelf exam, which will be a 2hr 45min, 110-question exam! I would have done this trip during my pre-clinical years, which would have been easier to plan for, and would have occurred during a spring break week. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put all trips on hold, until now. I am currently working hard to get ahead in the elective that I have scheduled during the trip since I will not have spring break as a third-year medical student. On top of all this, I am paying for my tuition and personal expenses with graduate student loans. Thus, I will be deeply thankful to all those who assist me in making this trip to Panama a reality.

For each day counting down to this deadline, I will post a digital drawing of an animal local to the region I will be visiting. Additionally, I will post a daily blog during my trip to keep my donators updated on my adventures with the Floating Doctors! If my fundraising goal is met, I will make a sticker pack of all my drawings available to purchase online. Make sure to check the Updates section for all these posts!