Comments on: Leavin’ on a Jet Plane: International Healthcare Experiences

By: jennifer

jennifer — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:34:14 +0000

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.

By: cinnamini

cinnamini — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:26:52 +0000

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.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:57:12 +0000

Very important discussion- also check out http://www.cfhi.org for international premed service opportunities all over Latin America, and India.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:25:15 +0000

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.

By: Joseph Kim, MD, MPH

Joseph Kim, MD, MPH — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:53:44 +0000

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.

By: internationaltripster

internationaltripster — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:45:40 +0000

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

By: wisdom

wisdom — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:15:27 +0000

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.

By: Kusmani

Kusmani — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:44:35 +0000

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.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:20:53 +0000

Let’s hear it for white people lending a ‘hand’ to save the world! yay neocolonialism!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:23:14 +0000

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.