‘A beautiful, enriching experience’

CSUB students participate in first faculty-led trip to Dominica

By California State University, Bakersfield

August 6^th, 2025

Psychology major Nereyda Lopez thought she knew what kind of career she wanted to pursue after graduation. Then she went on her first study abroad trip and everything changed.

Lopez was one of 13 students who signed up for California State University, Bakersfield’s first faculty-led trip to Dominica, a small island nation in the Caribbean. The program took place over two weeks this June and focused on how the island provides health care to its residents.

“I wanted to learn about how different countries take on mental health,” Lopez said. “Not every country does mental health like how we do here in the United States. I wanted to be shocked and surprised by what I was going to see.”

Dominica didn’t disappoint in that regard. While Lopez expected that health care workers on the island would have access to fewer resources compared to those in the U.S., what she didn’t anticipate was the level of passion the workers have to provide the best care they can.

“Everybody that we met, they all do it because they want to be there and they have the passion to take care of people,” she said. “I think that part is so amazing because it’s kind of hard to see that now here in the U.S., where I feel like a lot of people in the field of medicine are just chasing the money.”

A nurse she met during a visit to a private nursing home made a particular impression. At one point, Lopez saw him dancing with some of the patients to help brighten their day.

“Seeing the way he would interact with all the patients that were there, it was just so genuine and authentic. He just glowed up the room for all these people,” she said. “That was really nice because I feel like it’s hard to see people wanting to take care of older folk.”

Some of the experiences the students had weren’t as cheerful. The group visited a hospital psychiatric ward, a homeless shelter and government-run infirmary on the island, where 12 to 15 patients were staying in rooms the size of a large living room.

Students were able to help staff during these visits by helping to hand out medicine, make beds and feed patients.

“Their eyes were really opened. They saw things they weren’t expecting to see,” said Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Heidi McLaughlin, who led the program. “It was really impactful for them to see the difference between how care can differ drastically between public and private institutions. It was interesting for the students to see that while America has disparities, other counties have disparities too.”

Lopez said it was emotionally difficult for her to see the hardships that many patients experience in Dominica, but she came away from the experience inspired by how the island’s health care workers aim to provide the best care possible despite the challenges they face.

“They do give everything with what little they have, which I think is what’s most important,” she said. “My main takeaway was to appreciate what you have and always be genuine in what you do. Being genuine just really drives your passion and gets people to understand you, and you understand them more, too, on a personal level.”

While Lopez originally planned to pursue a career in behavioral psychology, her experience on the trip led her to decide to switch to clinical psychology, which has a broader focus that encompasses diagnosis, treatment and prevention efforts.

“Many of the doctors we met were there as clinicians. They took it upon themselves to learn everything, because they know they’re low on resources,” Lopez said. “They didn’t care about how much they got paid and were just doing it for the love for it and wanting to grow their knowledge.”

Lopez said she wants to be involved in all aspects of a patient’s health and not just be focused on the behavioral side.

“It just made me realize I need to not be so narrow-minded,” she said. “I want to be able to diagnose people, to be able to implement therapy and build a program for them so I can give them all the resources they need.”

Naomi Rodriguez poses for a photo with students from one of the schools she visited this summer as part of CSUB's first faculty-led trip to Dominica.

Building confidence

Fellow psychology major Naomi Rodriguez was one of the youngest students in the group, as she is about to start her sophomore year. She wanted to participate in the program because she thought it would be a great learning experience and give her an opportunity to meet new people.

“I was a little nervous. I didn’t know what to expect,” Rodriguez said. “Once we got there, that’s when the excitement hit me. Everyone there on the island was so friendly. They live life peacefully.”

Senior Madison Guzman said the time the group spent with the locals, included playing games with them and doing karaoke — was one of the highlights of the trip for her.

Guzman is entering her senior year and plans to go to medical school after earning her psychology degree at CSUB. Having an interest in international medicine, she thought the trip would be a great way to see firsthand how medical professionals work in other countries.

“I was hoping to learn more about other health care systems and see if this kind of work is right for me,” Guzman said. “I thought this is something that would give me an experience that could help me get a spot into medical school.”

Rodriguez enjoyed getting to meet students at the primary and secondary schools the group got to visit, but it was during home visits — where she saw some of the difficult living conditions of the elderly have on the island — that had the most impact on her.

“I’ve never seen like that, the living conditions some of them were in,” she said. “It was a lot for me, but I’m very blessed I had the opportunity to see that firsthand. It humbled me and helped me understand and realize that a lot of people have it worse than we do in America.”

Rodriguez was impressed by health care workers’ commitment and determination to provide the best care possible for their patients.

“The way they control their feelings and emotions and just handle the situation — I brought that back home with me. That kind of mindset is something I can use while I’m at CSUB,” she said.

Guzman said the study abroad experience gave her renewed confidence in pursuing her degree. She hopes to return to Dominica one day as a doctor so she can help more of the people there.

“It made me appreciate the privileges we have in America, all the resources we have,” she said. “I feel a lot calmer now about school. I know I’ll have a lot of resources around me to succeed, and that I shouldn’t take that for granted.”

It’s that increased confidence and self-esteem that Dr. McLaughlin hoped the students would come away from the experience with.

“Some of the things that help students do well in school and finish on time are things like having motivation and confidence, lower anxiety. All of those things can be improved by these kinds of trips,” she said. “It can impact their education in a super positive way that improves their experience at CSUB. My goal is to provide an experience that makes their education go smoother and that they learn more from the classes they take when they come back. I think it served its purpose.”

Dr. McLaughlin said many of the students were unsure at first about how to navigate some of the situations they were placed in, but that it improved as they got to know the island and its inhabitants more.

“At first, they were like ‘what do we do?’” she said. “As they interacted with more people and got to know the island, it went really well. The students weren’t as reticent to get involved. Having these experiences where they were helping people and providing care, I think, was really good for them. It helped them get out of their shell and gain confidence.”

Guzman said she’s grateful that CSUB offered this study abroad opportunity, as she thinks “this is an experience everyone should have in their life.”

Rodriguez believes study abroad programs are especially valuable because many CSUB students would otherwise not able to afford to visit other countries.

“It takes a lot of support and guidance to leave the country, to do things you feel like would be impossible without that system,” she said.

Lopez hopes the Psychology Department will be able to offer more faculty-led trips in the future now that the first has taken place.

“It was just such a beautiful, enriching experience. I will forever remember this,” she said. “I think everybody should experience this. It’s so awesome that CSUB was able to do it. I hope they get to offer more of these.”

Dr. McLaughlin, who wants to offer students another trip to Dominica next summer, hopes the trip will inspire faculty from other departments at CSUB that haven’t offered short-term study abroad programs before to develop their own so that more students are exposed to these kinds of experiences.