MSS International Health Student Experiences Database
Welcome to the new MSS International Health Student Experiences Database. This Database is a tool to aid medical students and residents searching for clinical, public health, educational, and research opportunities in international medicine.
If you have traveled abroad and completed work in international medicine, please take a few minutes to add your experience to this Database.
Note: Some of the links below will take you off the AMA Web site. The AMA is not responsible for the content of other Web sites.
Don't see the region, country, or experience type you're looking for? Be sure to check back at a later date, as this Database is continuously growing.
Africa
Melissa Morgan
University of Texas Medical School at Houston, MS1
Year: 2007
Location: Durban, South Africa
Type: Research
Focus: HIV/AIDS
Received Academic Credit? No
I spent two months at the HIV Prevention Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council working on a Phase II clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of two candidate microbicides to prevent HIV in women. I worked with Project Managers and clinicians to learn about how clinical trials are conducted on a day-to-day basis. It was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone interested in a career in HIV/AIDS clinical research.
Contact information: www.mrc.ac.za/hiv/hiv.htm
Kelvin Kemp
University of Texas Medical School at Houston, MS2
Year: 2007
Location: Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania
Type: Public Health
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? No
I was in Tanzania for approximately 1 month and while I spent most of my time in Dar-es-salaam, I also visited other regions like Mbeya and Bagamoro. I had the opportunity to observe and talk with members of the government, private sector NGOs, and health care professionals about the challenges associated with public health and infrastructure issues as they relate to the delivery of health care in remote areas, especially anti-retroviral drugs. There are currently several programs and organizations based in Tanzania aimed at reducing the incidence of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB through health care delivery systems and education-based tools. Since my interest involves infectious diseases, I was presented with a wonderful opportunity to experience the frontline battles against a number of various infectious diseases. Tanzania is a beautiful country, and the people are very nice. I hope to visit again, probably during a 4th year rotation.
Contact information:
Paul Nanda
Ohio State University Family Medicine Program, R2
Year: 2006
Location: Chidamoyo, Zimbabwe
Type: Clinical
Focus: HIV/AIDS
Received Academic Credit? Yes
While in a mission hosptial in rural Zimbabwe, I was able to take part in immunization clinics, HIV/AIDS and TB care, 20-30 deliveries, surgeries, and much more. An amazing rotation with a missionary nurse, Kathy McCarty.
Contact information: nandaman@yahoo.com
Dana Steenhard
University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, MS1
Year: 2007
Location: Shirati, Tanzania
Type: Clinical
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? No
A classmate and I volunteered in a privately funded, rural hospital serving a community of approximately 200,000 people. We rounded with doctors and visited most of the wards, including Women's, Men's, Pediatric, and Maternity. Many of the cases were Malaria- or AIDS-related, although I saw a few meningitis, Tb, and parasitic cases, as well. We also were able to assist in the Operation Theatre on various surgeries, including Cesarian sections and those involving emergency ectopic pregnancies. We brought supplies for the hospital and they provided us with housing and a cook. We also donated money to them at the end of our trip and are hoping to return in the near future. This was an incredibly worthwhile and unforgettable experience, and we were able to get to know the community very well. We are now trying to establish a more permanent program and relationship between UC Irvine and Shirati Hospital.
Contact information: dsteenhard@yahoo.com
Kate Hartzell
University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, MS1
Year: 2007
Location: Shirati, Tanzania
Type: Clinical
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? No
My experience in the hospital in Tanzania changed my perspective on life and healthcare more than words can describe. While we were there we shadowed doctors in all four of the hospital's wards: men's, women's, pediatric, and maternity. We saw diseases we don't see here in the U.S. such as Malaria, Leprosy, and Burkett's Lymphoma as well as the devastating effects of widespread HIV and AIDS. Also, the two of us each got to be first assistant on a surgery, under conditions drastically different from those we find in the U.S. In addition we got to know the people in the community, and learn all about their way of life and culture. It was an experience I will never forget, and I hope that I take the things that I experienced and learned in Tanzania throughout the rest of my medical career.
Contact information: ucichick@hotmail.com
Hayden Pappas
East Carolina University School of Medicine, MS1
Year: 2007
Location: Lusaka, Zambia
Type: Clinical
Focus: HIV/AIDS
Received Academic Credit? No
I spent three months after my MS1 year in Lusaka working with the cervical cancer screening division of CIDRZ (Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia). I absolutely loved the work I did there. The gynecology division is the newer, more service-oriented facet of CIDRZ. I was able to assist with VIA screenings in the local clinics as well as LEEPs and cryotherapy in the main hospital in Lusaka. CIDRZ is a well-organized, fairly large NGO, which is run through UAB. It provides ARVs at many of the clinics in Lusaka while conducting state-of-the-art research. They have many research and clinical opportunities and are easy to work with. They have a great intern program which accepts applicants for either six months or one year. They also take Fogarty fellows. Lusaka was a great place to live, lots of ex-pats from all over. Zambia is a beautiful country with a very warm, accepting culture.
Contact information: http://www.cidrz.org/, pappash@gmail.com
Asia
Raymond Reiser
University of Alabama School of Medicine, MS2
Year: 2007
Location: Battambang, Cambodia
Type: Research
Focus: Tuberculosis
Received Academic Credit? Yes
I took part in a multinational study in Cambodia assessing whether the current DOTS (directly observed treatment, short-course) program was sufficient to detect tuberculosis in regions of Southeast Asia with limited resources and high HIV and tuberculosis burdens.
Contact information: www.gorgasinfo.org
Maya Babu
Harvard Medical School (Post Bac)
Year: 2004
Location: Mysore, India
Type: Public Health
Focus:
Received Academic Credit? No
Researched the impact of high-priced genetically modified cotton on increased suicides/depression among poor farmers.
Contact information: mbabu@hms.harvard.edu
Enrico Castillo
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, MS1
Year: 2006
Location: Dehradun (northern rural India), India
Type: Clinical
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? No
his was an amazing experience, organized by Child Family Health International with a focus on traditional medicine. I had to be willing to be assertive and remember that things in developing countries don't work on timetables as in the US, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. A great diversity of clinic sites--from city to rural, private to government, specialty to primary care. Staff was also very accessible and available for troubleshooting.
Contact information: www.cfhi.org
Central/South America
David Miller
University of California, Irvine, MS1
Year: 2006
Location: Siguatepeque, Honduras
Type: Clinical
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? No
I lived with a doctor in a rural hospital (Hospital Evangelico)~75 beds. I shadowed this doctor, doctora Lezama, most days but I also participated in a smaller associated clinic and a mobile clinic. It was great practice for interviewing patients in Spanish. The leadership of the hospital have many American contacts so they were very understanding of my needs and limitations. Living with a family (and a doctor) was also a very good experience, only Spanish in the house!
Contact information: Dr. Guido Martinez (foxtermd@gmail.com), David Miller(davidmiller79@hotmail.com)
David Miller
University of California, Irvine, MS3
Year: 2008
Location: Siguatepeque, Honduras
Type: Research
Focus: Obesity/Diabetes
Received Academic Credit? Yes
We compared diabetes education in a Spanish speaking population in Orange County with a population in Honduras. We also rotated through two hospitals, Hospital Regional De Occidente and Hospital
Evangelico.
Contact information: David Miller (damiller@uci.edu)
Donald Kim
Western University, COMP, MS2
Year: 2007
Location: Cusco, Peru
Type: Clinical
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? No
A group of 15 of us went to Cusco, Peru, thru the IFRE program. They taught Spanish lessons in the afternoon and we volunteered at a clinic in the mornings. It was an awesome experience and was not that expensive compared to other programs. As with any clinical experience, it is what you get out of it. They were a little disorganized but overall seemed pretty well established.
Contact information: http://www.ifrevolunteers.org/aboutus.php
Isaac Vargas
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, MS1
Year: 2007
Location: Lima, Peru
Type: Clinical
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? No
The global volunteers service program in Lima, Peru, allowed me and a group of students to dedicate our time to maintaining a large "Childrens Home" named Puericultorio Perez Aranibar (PPA). The facility provides security, safe housing, nutritious meals, and a formal education on a sprawling, ocean-side campus near the city center. Many of children have no guardian available, having been abandoned by their birth parents or voluntarily placed in the facility by economically impoverished parents or removed by the state. Our group members volunteered to care for toddlers (1-2 years old) and teach English to preschool, kindergarten, middle school, and high school students. We helped with labor projects around the facility and supported the healthcare workers with the sick children of the facility, who may suffer from Asthma, influenza, and TB. Based on skill and comfort level, volunteers could round with the volunteer physicians and help administer treatments at the onsite "hospitalito."
Contact information: www.globalvolunteers.org/, isaacva@pcom.edu
Caren Armstrong
University of California, Irvine, MS2
Year: 2007
Location: Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Type: Education
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? No
I went to Guatemala to learn Spanish and volunteer. The city (Xela, the Mayan name for Quetzaltenango) was not as touristy as Antigua or the cities around Lago de Atitlan, and less dangerous than Guatemala City. I stayed with a very nice family who spoke no English. I took one-on-one classes for half a day and did volunteer work the other half. I worked at a clinic (the school can arrange this) and at the local orphanage. I traveled on weekends. You can stay as long as you want. Guatemala is breathtakingly beautiful, and the people are very kind and patient. And the Spanish there is relatively easy to understand. It was a great experience-- I highly recommend it.
Contact information: http://www.spanishschool.com/
Dorothy Liu
University of California, Irvine, MS1
Year: 2004
Location: Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Type: Clinical
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? No
I studied Spanish at Miguel Angel Asturias Spanish school and also worked in a clinic (Centro de Salud de Olintepeque). This experience was actually before I got into medical school, so I was not able to perform physical exams, but I shadowed the doctor and interacted with patients. I also performed some vaccinations with the doctor and a public health nurse in a rural community.
Contact information: http://www.spanishschool.com/
Allison Bichler
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, MS2
Year: 2006
Location: Guatemala
Type: Clinical
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? No
We worked with a mission that set up day-clinics in small villages in rural Guatemala. As medical students, we would perform a history and physical exam on patients, then report back to our supervising physicians and decide on a plan for the patient.
Contact information: http://www.sanlucasmission.com/Home.htm
Dharushana Muthulingam
UCB-UCSF Joint Medical Program, MS1
Year: 2007
Location: Quito, Ecuador
Type: Research
Focus: Other Infectious Disease
Received Academic Credit? No
This was an epidemiological study centrally about Chlamydia Trachomatis in women. There were two arms to the study. The arm with which I was involved was looking at Chlamydia, co-infections, and host immunological factors in the urban sex worker population who attended a certain government clinic. We collected samples in the clinic, interviewed patients, and performed PCR analysis on the samples. The second arm was looking at similar things, but specifically between CT and HPV at the cancer hospital. It was a fascinating multi-level study, and the people involved, both Ecuadorian and American, were great to work with. This is a great place to improve your Spanish (but difficult if an absolute beginner) and an awesome exposure not only to infectious disease, diagnostics, and women's health, but also to the politics and subtleties of crossnational and cross-cultural research.
Contact information: http://www.chori.org/Principal_Investigators/Dean_Deborah/dean_overview.html
Paul Nanda
Ohio State University Family Medicine Program, R3
Year: 2007
Location: Caves Branch/Belmopan, Belize
Type: Clinical
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? Yes
This international experinece consisted of two successive two-week rotations. The first rotation was a class in rescue/wilderness medicine in Caves Branch, Belize. The course was a challenging, unforgettable experience taught by a group called GMRS (Global Medical Rescue Services). The second two weeks were in a small hospital in the capital city of Belmopan.
Contact information: www.gmrsltd.com/, nandaman@yahoo.com
Kristin La Fortune (MS1), Debra Koenigsberger (MS2), Briana Petersen (MS2), and Erin Lynch (MS2)
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Year: 2008
Location: San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala
Type: Clinical
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? No
An interdisciplinary group of approximately 10 medical students, pharmacy students, nurses, and doctors travelled to rural Guatemala to run medical clinics. We stayed at a religious mission in the region and set out daily to treat patients. It was great hands-on experience to actually treat patients. It was very rewarding to provide much needed care, and exciting to see patients that actually wanted to interact with medical students. It was also challenging to witness the results of a lack of health care infrastructure and basic public health needs.
Contact information:
Isaac Yoshii
University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, MS2
Year: 2007
Location: Matamoros, Mexico
Type: Clinical
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? No
The Summer Medical Institute is a Christian organization that trains 30 medical students every summer to integrate biblical principles into their healthcare practice. We did medical outreach to underserved communities in Harlingen, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico (across the border from one another). In Texas, we offered door-to-door hypertension and diabetes screening and history taking, as well as assessing people's spiritual needs. In Mexico, we ran church-based clinics and offered healthcare to each community. Spanish interpreters are provided so no language background is necessary, though it is a great chance to learn.
Contact information: http://www.thesmi.org/
Europe
Kimberly P. Kicielinski
Penn State College of Medicine, MS1
Year: 2007
Location: Minsk, Belarus
Type: Clinical
Focus: Other
Received Academic Credit? No
The International Children's Heart Foundation travels in teams of a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, anesthesiologist, perfusionist, two intensivists, and a approximately eight PICU nurses for regular two week trips to various countries to perform heart surgeries on children. The team members change each trip, and medical students are welcome at any time, and split time between the ICU (playing with patients, helping with routine care), the outpatient clinic (observing echocardiograms and the evaluation of patients), the cardiac catheterization lab, and the OR (observing cutting-edge surgeries). The goal of the student is to learn as much as possible, but this experience includes more observation and less hands-on experience, though the benefits of the cultural immersion and exposure to a foreign medical system are invaluable. Although students must fund their own trip, there is no program fee, and the program is extremely well-run, with multiple group excursions available.
Contact information: http://www.babyheart.org/
Alexander Ding, MD, MS
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center/Stanford University School of Medicine, R1
Year: 2008
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Type: Public Health
Focus:
Received Academic Credit? Yes
Worked on World Wide Tobacco Cessation Effort.
Contact information: http://www.who.int/en/
Alexander Ding, MD, MS
University of California San Francisco, MS4
Year: 2007
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Type: Research
Focus:
Received Academic Credit? Yes
Studied physician workforce issues at University of Manchester and National Primary Care Research and Development Centre.
Contact information: http://www.npcrdc.ac.uk/
Alexander Ding, MD, MS
University of California San Francisco, MS4
Year: 2007
Location: London, United Kingdom
Type: Clinical
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? Yes
Clinical experience at a University of London Hospital. Good insight into the UK National Health Service.
Contact information: http://www.sgul.ac.uk/
Middle East
Abid Mogannam & Brandon Murguia
UC Irvine & UC Davis School of Medicine, MS1
Year: 2006
Location: Bethlehem District, Palestinian Territory
Type: PublicHealth
Focus: General Health
Received Academic Credit? Yes
The Bethlehem Diabetes Project is a collaborative public service project aimed at the continued development of community-based diabetes education and prevention health models during the summer of the acadmeic schoolyear. Medical students will travel to the Dheisheh Refugee Camp, situated in the West Bank territory of Palestine, to work with local health leaders and activists - collectively called the Ibdaa Health Comittee -in promoting the empowerment of men and women in their struggle to control diabetes mellitus. Students will stay at the Ibdaa Cultural Center (situated inside the camp), a grassroots organization that provides educational, social, and cultural programs for the children, youth and women of Dheisheh refugee camp. The Bethlehem Diabetes Project is geared towards future physicians who wish to explore and learn how social, economic, and political circumstance(s) affect health outcomes.
Contact information: bethlehemdiabetesproj@gmail.com
Pacific
Daniel Torres
Loma Linda University, MS1
Year: 2006
Location: Paiam, Papua New Guinea
Type: Clinical
Focus: Surgery
Received Academic Credit?
Papua New Guinea is a place of 700 languages that is in great need of healthcare. It is a great location for people interested in Orthopedic surgery. There is a lot of tribal violence and many innocent bystanders that need surgical intervention. If you want the experience of a life time go to Papua New Guinea.
Contact information: dtorres@llu.edu, http://www.llu.edu/llu/sims/
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