'We left Peru as a family': UW-Oshkosh nursing students advance community health, careers abroad

UW-Oshkosh senior nursing students and Chancellor Manohar Singh complete the Inca Trail at the Sun Gate overlooking Machu Picchu during the School of Nursing and Health Professions study abroad program in Peru. From left: Raymond Howard, Talia Krause, Lucy Stalowski, Emma Mali, Anika Roush, Briana Horn, Graci Willmarth and Chancellor Singh.

When UW-Oshkosh Associate Professor Maria Graf boarded a January flight to Peru with 10 nursing students, she was not simply leading a study abroad trip. She was guiding her students into a global classroom, one that stretched from rural health clinics in Arequipa to the heights of the Inca Trail.

Many of the students had never traveled outside the United States. Within days, they were navigating public transportation in a new language, working alongside Peruvian nursing students in community clinics and learning what it truly means to provide culturally responsive care.

Joining them for part of the journey was Manohar Singh, Chancellor of UW-Oshkosh, who traveled to Peru to strengthen international partnerships and to witness firsthand how global learning shapes UWO nursing students.

The world becomes their classroom

The 17-day international clinical experience was part of Nursing 418: Clinical, Family and Community Nursing, a Senior I clinical course that applies theory to the holistic care of families and populations. Graf co-led the international clinical experience with fellow nursing faculty member Heidi Hansen.

"Study abroad is a unique experience for our students in the sense that the world becomes their classroom," Graf said.

Based primarily in Arequipa, Peru's second-largest city near the Andes Mountains, students partnered with faculty and students from Universidad Católica de Santa María. (UCSM) Through a long-standing partnership, UW-Oshkosh nursing students are placed in rural clinics alongside Peruvian nursing students and instructors.

Graf explained that while language and geography change, the mission of nursing does not.

Hands-on community health in rural Peru

During multiple clinical days in rural clinics, UW-Oshkosh students moved beyond observation. They partnered with Peruvian nursing students and instructors to deliver primary prevention education directly to families.

After reviewing community data, the students identified iron-deficiency anemia as a major concern. But once on site, they realized nutrition alone was not the only factor. Gastrointestinal infections were preventing proper absorption of nutrients.

So they adjusted. To make their lessons practical, students created color-based demonstrations showing what happens when meat is undercooked versus safe to eat. Red juices meant it was not ready. A golden color signaled it was safe. They taught families how to identify spoiled meat at markets and how to recognize unsafe produce before bringing it home.

They also focused on hydration and parasite prevention, explaining safe water practices and ways to make drinking water more accessible and appealing in communities where tap water was not always reliable. Every lesson required collaboration with an interpreter. That meant slowing down, simplifying language and watching for nonverbal cues. Each afternoon, students debriefed, revised and refined.

"They were very shy and anxious at first," Graf said. "But by the seventh day, they were the experts."

For senior nursing major Mia Lucero of Bolingbrook, Illinois, the transformation was personal.

"The most meaningful part of our clinical experience for me was being able to put ourselves in the shoes of the community members and nurses in Peru," Lucero said. "We got to be in the rural areas where people do not typically tour or see when they visit Peru."

"It was so amazing to see how engaged they were in the material and how much they cared," she said. "They were so excited to engage with us and welcomed us with open arms. They really made the trip feel like home."

Beyond clinical skills, students gained insight into their own cultural norms.

"You understand what it means to be American, to be Midwestern," Graf said.

Bonding beyond the clinic

Cultural immersion was woven throughout the itinerary, which included time in Lima, Arequipa, Puno and Cusco.

Students visited Colca Canyon at elevations exceeding 14,000 feet, took traditional Peruvian dance lessons and built camaraderie far beyond the clinical setting. Near the end of the trip, the group traveled to Cusco and completed a six-hour trek along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

After taking a train to the trailhead, students hiked the final stretch to the historic site, climbing steep Inca-built stone steps and winding along mountain ridges before reaching the iconic citadel. Singh joined the students on the six-hour trek. Graf and Hansen did not.

"Walking the Inca Trail is a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Hansen said with a laugh. "We've already done it. We're happy we did it. We didn't need to do it again."

For the two instructors, the breathtaking view atop Machu Picchu had already been earned. This time, it belonged to their students.

"Completing the Inca Trail was a very physical and mental challenge," Lucero said. "There were many moments of doubt, regret and surrendering, but we pushed our boundaries and unlocked a different level of determination, dedication and resilience that we did not know we had inside of us."

A boost before graduation

The Peru experience came just months before May graduation and the NCLEX licensure exam. But for Graf, the value of the international clinical rotation extends far beyond a line on a résumé.

Some might ask why nursing students need to travel thousands of miles when public health work can be done in Wisconsin. Graf has a ready answer.

The migrant population in the Midwest is growing, she said. Nurses will increasingly care for patients whose language, culture and health care experiences differ from their own. Waiting to develop those skills until that moment arrives is not enough.

"We cannot wait," Graf said. "We need to be one step ahead."

By immersing students in another health care system, working through interpreters and navigating unfamiliar cultural norms, the program allows them to experience what it feels like to be the outsider.

"Nursing is a profession you cannot do alone," Graf said. "You need to work in a team."

For Lucero, the impact of Peru was more than a clinical requirement. It was eye-opening in ways she did not expect.

"No matter what chapter you are in your life, there is no limit to breaking and setting new boundaries, learning something new and challenging yourself. Even though we started off as strangers, we left Peru as a family," Lucero said. "I will forever be grateful for this trip."

Learn more:

School of Nursing and Health Professions

Study Abroad at UWO