Intro

In June of 2007, we traveled to the Dominican Republic to investigate the opportunity for implementation of needle-free jet injectors (NFI) in the immunization program.

NFI delivers immunizations via a thin, high-speed liquid stream and eliminates many negative consequences incurred from using needles including biohazard sharps waste, inadvertent needle sticks, and needle reuse. We used individual interviews of health care workers, administrators, public policy makers, and international organization workers to gather feedback on the usability, cost saving potential, and adoptability of NFI technology for immunizations.

-Mike, Azucena, Sapun, and Rich

Monday, June 18, 2007

Day 4: June 13, 2007, Flying Solo

Maybe it was the lucky number 13 (…Sapun, I’m being sarcastic) or the rain, but we had a rough start this morning. Overall the full day went ok, better than what we had expected after what happened in the morning. I’ll start from the beginning. Cold water showers forcefully woke up most of us (except me, hah!), and having low water pressure didn’t help much. Anyhow, it was sufficient enough to get the soap away before we went to our favorite waitress for breakfast. The expressions on her face when she said, “lo mismo de ayer” was completely blank and uninterested, so we were all anxious to see her reaction this morning. We had the same eggs, ham, toast, café con leche, but the waitress greeted us with a pleasant smile, which was surprising, the only item that gets to be varied is the fruit juice, and this is usually delicious the best tropical fruits are grown here in the D.R. island.

This morning was our real interview outside of PAI, so we were nervous. We made it to the office on time after we got trapped in traffic by everyone trying to cross the intersection simultaneously. Then we proceeded to walk to the next building where our 8:30 am meeting was going to take place. Just as we stepped out the door, it started to pour. Maybe this was a forecast for our meeting, for which all I can say is that the peak of that storm happened in that small room. On the bright side of things, we learned how to improve our approach for future interviews. We headed back to our office, met for while with our collaborators, and brainstormed new ideas.

Hours later, we ran some great interviews with clinicians in the children’s hospital with the help of our collaborators and called it a day. The day couldn’t have had a better end as we enjoyed our dinner on a patio overlooking the Caribbean with the sun setting in the west. And together we walked back to our hotel to enjoy a nice evening of typing and chatting.

-Azucena

caption: Mike's back is soaked, except for where his backpack was masking the rain.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Maybe instead of a jet injector, you should invent an umbrella. (Seth)