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Pre-Medical Student Osteopathic Medical AssociationLeavin’ on a Jet Plane: International Healthcare Experiences
Posted on August 13, 2008
Filed Under Dental (DDS, DMD), Medical (MD, DO), Pharmacy (PharmD)
by Brittany Warrick
SDN Staff Writer
There are many learning opportunities for student doctors while they are in school, 
including a healthy blend of didactic and practical lessons. By the end of their training, most students in the U.S. have their fingers on the pulse of domestic medicine, but medical education cannot always impart the same lessons learned by students who participate in medical missions to developing parts of the world. The experience that I have gained personally from traveling outside the United States has undoubtedly shaped me into a better student and I have become increasingly confident in my abilities as a a future clinician.
One of the first realizations many students experience when traveling abroad is that, despite its flaws, our medical system in the U.S. is often much more efficient than the those in developing countries. In many areas, conditions may go completely untreated and seemingly “simple” things such as diarrhea can take child’s life. Infrastructure is also an area of major concern; privileges that many doctors take for granted (some as simple as admitting patients to the hospital) are not as easily accomplished in underdeveloped areas.
When traveling to other countries students are able to experience what is like to actually be the health care provider rather than a student merely observing patient care. I had the opportunity to set up a pharmacy properly and was able to manage the people that were helping as technicians. This is something that many interns are not able to experience at their schools, however it is something that many new pharmacists must be ready to do shortly after graduation.
Students are also afforded the opportunity to explore other healthcare professions. Seize the opportunity to go and see what the other professionals are doing and how they do it. This helps the student doctor appreciate the other professionals that they work with and empowers them to better function as an integral member of a patient-centered healthcare team.
International healthcare opportunities expose the student to a vast array of learning opportunites unmatched in the classroom. The easiest way to find opportunities at your institution is to seek the guidance of peers and faculty (there may even exist an office specifically for international study). Studying healthcare abroad can be an invaluable, enriching experience that requires nothing but a strong work ethic and an open mind.
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13 Responses to “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane: International Healthcare Experiences”
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I was wondering if you knew of any programs that take pre-med college students on such trips during the non-major breaks (ie. not during the summer)>
look into International Service Learning
http://islonline.org/
Although international experiences can be extremely educational, it is exceptionally important to choose your experience wisely - not just for yourself but for your potential patients. Its somewhat unethical for a medical student to be provide a level of care in a developing country that would not be acceptable in their own country. Additionally your educational experience will not be as fulfilling. I highly recommend international electives to medical students; its these experiences that inspired me to go into global development as a physician. Just be sure to choose appropriately; go through your medical school or a reputable one - may schools including Columbia, Harvard, University of Florida, George Washington, Baylor, and University of Pennsylvania have established programs.
And when you do come back from these countries with a likely unique and possibly transforming experience, don’t claim to have “started a pharmacy” or to have “been the care provider.” You may have influenced individuals, but you were an outsider and you don’t know if they trusted your advice, or if that pharmacy you started lasted even a week after you were on that same jet plane headed back to the states.
Let’s hear it for white people lending a ‘hand’ to save the world! yay neocolonialism!
I would love to participate in dental mission trips in underserved communities in the United States and Mexico. I have heard of islonline and other organizations that require funds that are beyond my budget but I am searching for some mission trips that are less expensive.
Sounds like a good idea, but why not also send medical students to countries that have better health care systems than the U.S. so they can learn and bring back their knowledge for us all.
Unite For Sight has international volunteering programs all through the year. It’s an exceptional organization and you make a real impact by helping exceptional doctors. You can go to Honduras, Ghana or India: http://www.uniteforsight.org/volunteer-abroad
Many years ago, I had the opportunity to practice medicine briefly in Mexico and Honduras. I still have some great memories from those international experiences. The public health needs in other countries can vary so much compared to the United States. A friend of mine works for the CDC and is currently based in China. Several other friends are working as primary care physicians in a private practice settings in China.
I noticed a few sarcastic replies already above.
It’s interesting that I notice this article now, as I am now on my way out of Papua New Guinea around the South Pacific as a dental assistant volunteering through the US Navy. The effect that we as healthcare providers have on the local people is nothing short of a miracle to them, because the local healthcare system is so flooded or so lacking. When you walk into a hospital ER with bloody and wounded people all over the floor, you lose all preconceived notions of ‘poor healthcare.’
The overarching goal of this mission is to improve US and foreign relations, but our goal as providers is to benefit as many locals as we can in our short stay in each country. My goal as an individual is to see and experience as many aspects of healthcare as I can. I observed surgeries in the ship’s O.R. and seen optometrists in action. With so much healthcare (including DVMs) around me, theres so much to see and learn that I will likely never get to see once I start dental school. Certainly I won’t ever get to be a pharmacy tech counting pills under a pharmacist.
The impact here was tremendous: 10% of the city’s population was seen by our doctors and staff.
Very important discussion- also check out http://www.cfhi.org for international premed service opportunities all over Latin America, and India.
Great topic. I was in the Peace Corps before starting med school, which helped me to consider that before doing ANY sort of volunteering internationally, it is important to contact PREVIOUS VOLUNTEERS who are in the same location/post. In my town, there was a “medical volunteer” program that duped hundreds of good-hearted pre-med students out of their money and what was (and still is) described online as a wonderful experience. They were charged hundreds of dollars a week to share a room in a dirty house, be fed almost nothing (often the peanut butter they were told to bring with them), and do very little medical work at an ill-run clinic …which treated its local staff horribly. We are all trying to help - make sure you actually get to! So check references before putting any money down.
It’s good that medical students from the US do come to most developing countries to make a difference and see how things differ from the US system.
I am a medical student in Sierra Leone, West Africa who would like to do my electives in the US. I’m intersted in Public Health and Health Policies, I would like to have a first hand experience on the type of system used in the US and how that would help one of the least developed countries in the world, Sierra Leone. Trying to get a placement is so difficult. I think it would be helpful if most medical schools try to recruit elective students from countries like Sierra Leone, because these students would return to their countries n try to implement what they have seen. It is more beneficial to these countries rather than students coming down from the US and helping for 4-6wks and return with sympathy for these countries and no long term effects.