As a student, Cleya Williams adjusted many patients
during her 2006 Clinic Abroad trip to Morocco. |
As a clinic intern on Palmer’s Florida Campus, Cleya Williams, D.C., Florida
’06, participated in a Clinic Abroad Program (CAP) trip to Morocco in
February and March 2006, where she found the guidance from the doctors
to be very beneficial. “I had awesome clinic doctors that really assisted me
and the other interns with adjusting and recommendations,” she said. “I
was able to improve my adjusting as well as patient management skills.”
She repaid the favor by participating as a doctor of chiropractic in a CAP trip
to Bahia, Brazil, in October 2007. “As a clinician who had been a student not
too long before, I had an advantage because I knew what some of the interns
lacked,” she said.
“I gained the respect of the interns by allowing them to show me what
they could do and the things they had not perfected and took that as an
opportunity to give them some beneficial pointers. I gained their respect
by helping them and they were comfortable with asking me questions.
In a week’s time I saw interns blossom into doctors ready to serve.”
Improving adjusting and patient management skills are not the
only benefits of participating in a CAP trip, added Dr. Williams,
who currently practices in Charlotte, N.C.
“I had the chance as a student to experience another culture
and way of life,” she said. “We went there to provide health
care to people who may not have the opportunity to see a
doctor for a while, perhaps even a whole year. I gained
respect for other cultures and societies as well as an
appreciation for what I have.”
She encourages alumni to become involved in CAP
trips to provide a service to Palmer as well as future
doctors, and also for professional networking. “We all
needed some direction while in school to mold us into
who we are,” she said.