Medical students at the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences spent their summer vacation in a unique situation: delivering care to more than 600 patients in León, Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in Latin America. In the process, they also gained valuable perspective and experience.
U.S. medical students increasingly are seeking international experiences such as this. According to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), more than 65 percent of incoming medical students want to pursue global learning opportunities.
“Cultural sensitivity, identifying community needs, fairness in the distribution of resources, robust public health systems and improving health care for everyone—these are goals medical students identify with because of our extensive humanistic training,” said Divya Sharma, a second-year medical student at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and chair of the AMA Medical Student Section (MSS) Committee on Global and Public Health. “Global health issues impact all of us.”
Students from the University of Toledo team—an interdisciplinary group of 28 people, including medical, physician assistant, pharmacy, dental and physical therapy students—saw firsthand the impact their care had on the León community.
Acquiring a unique perspective
For these students, the eight-day experience in August spurred a new look at what it means to be a physician.
“This trip provided a perspective on health care that is unlike anything we experience in the states,” said Kelsey Smith, a third-year medical student at the University of Toledo. “Not only do patients have a unique perspective on the concepts of sickness and medicine, but their culture and language differences challenged the members of our team to be creative and inventive during patient interviews.”
At some of the more rural clinics, patients lack access to health care, and it’s difficult for patients to even get transportation to a medical facility. The team heard a story about one of the major causes of poor dental hygiene in local young children.
“Mothers cannot afford fresh water for baby formula,” Smith said. “Instead, these parents mix their children’s formula with Coca-Cola because it is prepared with filtered water and is less expensive than fresh, bottled water.”
At the same time, patients in urban community centers brought prescriptions for blood pressure or diabetes control medication that they couldn’t afford. Smith said the students return to the United States with an “extreme sense of humility.”
Gaining new experiences
The team had to provide care in a variety of settings, from windowless sheds to outdoor pavilions. Students were required to rely on their history-taking and physical exam skills.
“There is no way to get a CT scan on a patient with abdominal pain or a CBC in a patient with unexplained fatigue,” Smith said. “In this way, our trip exposed students to the most fundamental parts of medical practice.”
The team leaders, including Smith, were responsible for obtaining and organizing all medications and supplies before the trip, and directed flow at the clinics. Students rotated through pediatric, adult and women’s health services, and assisted at dental clinics.
Getting involved
Students interested in learning more about global health and participating in international experiences can check with their medical schools for resources. The AMA-MSS Committee on Global and Public Health also can help students find more information about international health opportunities.
The AAMC’s Global Health Learning Opportunities collaborative, a network of medical schools in the United States and abroad, can help students in their final year of medical school find clinical, research or public health-related international opportunities.
You tell us: Have you participated in an international medical trip? If not, would you? Share your thoughts and experiences by commenting below or on the AMA-MSS Facebook page.
