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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; King&#8217;s College Physician Assistant Studies student Jaclyn Beck concedes, with a chuckle, her two fears of a looming week in Haiti may sound a bit silly. &#8220;Heat and huge spiders,&#8221; she said. How huge? Like the proverbial fish that got away, they got bigger as she held her hands out to demonstrate.</p><p>&#8220;Not that big,&#8221; she admitted once her hands were at least a foot apart. &#8220;About the size of your hand.&#8221;</p><p>Beck and four other students will join seven King&#8217;s graduates this July to spend six days in Haiti helping with health care in the poorest country in the Americas. For some it&#8217;s a first-time event. For others, particularly Caitlin Haenig, it&#8217;s almost old hat.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve lived in a third world country,&#8221; she said, noting her father&#8217;s job in international business landed the family in a very impoverished part of Brazil back in 2001.</p><p>Others in the group have done service in Jamaica, Peru and with aborigines in Australia.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s scary,&#8221; Beck said. &#8220;People die because they don&#8217;t have antibiotics. It&#8217;s not like it is here.&#8221;</p><p>Not having any overseas experience, Tonya Mattei looks at it &#8220;as an adventure. I think going to different countries, you can be more appreciative of what we have.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I think it will be a life-changing experience,&#8221; Krystina Carcone said.</p><p>Beck suspects some of the biggest problems the group may encounter would be minor here, including parasitic infestations and diarrhea, a condition rarely dangerous in developed nations but one that can quickly turn fatal if not treated, particularly in infants and children.</p><p>Total cost to make the trip is $800 per person, and the group is raising money at <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/kingshaitimission" target="_blank">gofundme.com/kingshaitimission</a>. The goal is $4,000 and the students are at about $1,300, Naenig said. Any extra money will be used to buy needed supplies for the people they meet. Things as simple as toothpaste and toothbrushes can be important.</p><p>&#8220;Hygiene is a big part of the illnesses,&#8221; Mattei said.</p><p>For the most part, the students insist they are not afraid of getting sick. They are getting recommended vaccinations, know enough not to drink the local water and will have mosquito netting at night. &#8220;We just have to practice what we preach,&#8221; Beck said.</p><p>In fact, while some talked of getting into surgical medicine or family practice here in the states, when asked if they would consider a career working in poorer countries, Carlee Komoroski was quick with an answer.</p><p>&#8220;Definitely,&#8221; she smiled. &#8220;This would be my dream job.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">King&#8217;s College Physician Assistant students and graduates are heading to Haiti on a medical mission. From left, are King&#8217;s Clinical Director William Reynolds and students Carlee Komoroski, Krystina Carcone, Jaclyn Beck, Tonya Mattei and Caitlin Haenig. The students are raising money for the trip, including supplies for patients, at gofundme.com/kingshaitimission. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_20160505_114842.jpg</photo0><caption0>King&#8217;s College Physician Assistant students and graduates are heading to Haiti on a medical mission. From left, are King&#8217;s Clinical Director William Reynolds and students Carlee Komoroski, Krystina Carcone, Jaclyn Beck, Tonya Mattei and Caitlin Haenig. The students are raising money for the trip, including supplies for patients, at gofundme.com/kingshaitimission. </caption0><photoCredit0>Mark Guydish | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Taking their physician assistant training with them, King’s College students are headed to assist impoverished Haitians