But, I just got to keep going. I’m in final year now and hopefully I wont be doing my internship from India – the reason being the language barrier , even though we have a wide variety of patients.

BU has disappointed some of my friends interested in doing Global Health work, the school touts this alot, but in reality this just a marketing technique for the school, which is privately based, to get more good applications from optimistic undergrads, and to attempt to improve the image of the school, the international health experiences offered are superficial, maybe with the good example set by Ben Gurion schools like BU which talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk will be encouraged to be more supportive of their students pursuing international health . . .

That was an example of the people I have come across, I have more horror stories should you care to hear them, I can provide an email address, and again I am not stating that International outreach never existed before our schools creation, I am stating that a schools creation based solely on the need for international outreach has never happened before, not to mention the purpose and the mission of our school which is to send ALL its students out into the countries of our global neighbors!

If your experience was truly vast, you would have come across many working abroad and in their home countries (with projects related to international health) who come from all types of medical schools. Please, look at leading authors, clinical practioners, economists and researchers in the field of international health and development before you make such a claim. And then, look at all of the long-term employees and volunteers for organizations such as MSF (Doct w/out Borders), MDM, Partners in Health, etc. Many of them aren’t even physicians, and they do absolutely amazing things. And of those that are physicians, very few (if any) have graduated from your medical school. That is not to say it isn’t a wonderful place to commence your training, it’s just not the only one.

As I stated earlier, many US and other medical schools offer year-long electives and opportunities abroad, as well as short-term ones. And training to work internationally does not end with graduation. There are many residency programs with global health tracks (Brigham and UCSF come to mind first), so you will have many opportunities in your future if this is your passion.

Best of luck in your decisions.

It is more dangerous to send unprepared individuals into a foreign country with a different religion, different way of life, different language, different political structure, different dress code, different everything than to not send anyone at all, its like ALCS the first thing you do is assess your own safety. It is better if you are prepared, and have worked with natives in a comfortable environment before submerging yourself in a way of life you dont or cant understand (again why a medical school for international health) would be the way to go if you are TRULY interested in making a difference. This is not to dissuade those who are interested in doing 1 month electives, but by the time you get to wherever you are going and gain the trust of the locals, you are already leaving.

Ben Gurion focuses on the cross-cultural awareness that many medical schools dont have time to teach, yes granted our first year is from july to july (which is not so fun) regardless, we walk away with a confidence that is more than just a hunch of “how I want to help” we learn to plan things like disaster relief protocols, refugee camp management, triaging natural disasters, Emergency medicine in the field (i.e. boonies), and we don’t just treat African Americans, Mexicans, and Native Americans and call that diversity.

As my colleague mentioned before we are knees deep in Ethiopians speaking Amharric, Russians speaking Russian, Thai speaking Thai, Ghanians, Palestinians, Bedouin, Philipino’s, the Sudanese, Indian, and of course the Israeli’s, and none of them speak English.

That is cultural diversity.

If you are interested in more than a visit, and would like to experience the real deal, I encourage all of you to check out our program, I even think we have externships for people who want to do electives with the locals here in Be’er Sheva, in the Bedouin Villages, and in the West Bank.

Peace Out
Izzy

To Ahmed: The answer to your question is definitely yes! In fact, most of the organizations I have worked with would much prefer to have all volunteers/visitors be MDs – but are happy to have help from any interested party. Of course, MDs have a great deal to offer as volunteers, but keep in mind the cautions mentioned above about the fact that those trained in the USA are not trained for the diseases of other parts of the world.

One thing that you can do if you truly want to treat patients with tropical diseases is to take part in a program which will give you an intensive course in tropical diseases. These programs exist at institutions like Johns Hopkins as well as Oxford University (the Diploma in Tropical Medicine program). I would highly recommend a program such as this if you are an MD who wishes to practice even temporarily in an area affected by tropical diseases.

To Anonymous: I am not aware of schools that do not allow international electives, but I would not be surprised if some do exist. Importantly, some medical school offer far more support than others for travel expenses – be sure to investigate when you are applying! One thing I do know is that a number of residency programs do not allow international electives, citing the subsidized money that they receive from the government as the problem. So if you are interested in doing an elective internationally, be sure to ask about this in interviews.

To Israel: I appreciate your comments but I would hesitate to categorize all medical students who do not attend Ben Gurion as ‘all talk idealists’ or people who only want to participate in international health activities for their CV. People have different motivations and personalities and not everyone wants to dedicate their career to international medicine, but many would still like to work abroad temporarily, or become interested later in their careers. In my experiences with work internationally, I have found it immensely rewarding and personally satisfying, but also highly challenging, frustrating, and emotionally draining at times. I feel that there are many different ways in which we can give and participate in the global community, even from inside the borders of the United States. I would suggest that there are many who lead amazing careers in international medicine and took a variety of paths to get there. The first step is to realize how privileged we are and how much we can share with those in need. I think it is more constructive to focus on ways we can improve the quality of electives and make the most out of these experiences. They can inspire people and change lives. I have seen so much cynicism in medicine – I don’t like to quash any idealism if I can help it.