A Gap Year Service Learning Trip To Belize Confirms a Future as an MD (Original Release 4/20)

A Gap Year Service Learning Trip To Belize Confirms a Future as an MD (Original Release 4/20)

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2534345/fan_mail/new] A blood pressure reading of 200/100. A patient who listens, nods, and still chooses not to go to the hospital because of faith. That single moment in Belize forces a bigger question than “What’s the right treatment?” It asks, “How do we care for people when culture, belief, and autonomy are part of the diagnosis?”  We sit down with Ava, a University of South Carolina grad in her gap year, to talk about the international service learning trip that clarified her future as an MD. She shares the practical side of a strong pre-med path too: graduating a semester early, creating a focused MCAT study window, and finding the right communities through Alpha Epsilon Delta and Women in Healthcare. If you’re weighing a gap year, looking for experiential medical education, or trying to build authentic clinical experience, her reflections are grounded and specific.  Then we head to the Belize hospital and community clinic days. Ava breaks down what it’s like to rotate through specialties, learn from fourth-year medical student mentors, and work with Belizean healthcare teams who practice in resource-limited settings without routine CT or MRI access. The big takeaway is simple and powerful: better medicine often starts with listening harder, examining carefully, and educating patients in ways that actually land.  Ava also shares details on the upcoming gap year student trip to Belize in August. Subscribe for more global health and service learning stories, share this with a friend on the pre-med track, and leave a review with the biggest lesson you want to carry into your future practice. I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to not only share with you our guest’s introduction to international healthcare, but also to share with you how that exposure to international healthcare has shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations.  As a 50+ year nurse that has worked in quite a variety of clinical roles in our healthcare system, taught healthcare courses for the past 20 years at the university level, and has traveled extensively with my students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that healthcare focused students need, and greatly benefit from the opportunity to have hands-on experiential healthcare experiences in an international setting! I have seen the growth of students post travel as their self-confidence in their newly acquired skillsets, both clinical and cultural, facilitates their ability to take advantage of opportunities that previously may not have been available to them. By rendering care internationally, and stepping outside one's comfort zone, many more doors of opportunity will be opened. Feel free to check out our website at www.islonline.org, follow us on Instagram @ islmedical, and reach out to me @ DrH@islonline.org [DrH@islonline.org]

Six Months Of Global Service Voices

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2534345/fan_mail/new] Photos of service trips are everywhere. What’s missing is the part that changes you: the voice, the hesitation, the courage, and the why. At our six-month mark, I’m stepping back to reflect on what International Service Learning with Experiential Medical Education is really trying to do and what I’m hearing across dozens of global health stories. I share a bit about my own background, more than 50 years in nursing, over 20 years involved in international service, and a lifetime of travel that keeps reminding me how much you can learn when you’re not intimidated by language or culture. Then I walk through the guests who have shaped the first phase of the show: former students now practicing as physicians, pharmacists, and nurses, plus healthcare executives, Peace Corps voices, medical students, undergrads from all majors, and gap year students. The goal stays simple: get to know the person behind the work and how their path actually unfolded. A few themes keep showing up with surprising clarity. Guests describe stepping out of their comfort zone as a leap of faith, especially when it’s their first time traveling or their first time working inside a different healthcare system. Over and over, they tell students who are on the fence the same thing: “just do it.” And beneath everything is the most important global health lesson of all, advocacy for people who don’t have a voice, whether that service happens abroad or right in your local community. If these conversations help you reflect on how you can pay it forward, share the show with a healthcare-focused student or friend, subscribe, and leave a review so more people can find the stories. I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to not only share with you our guest’s introduction to international healthcare, but also to share with you how that exposure to international healthcare has shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations.  As a 50+ year nurse that has worked in quite a variety of clinical roles in our healthcare system, taught healthcare courses for the past 20 years at the university level, and has traveled extensively with my students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that healthcare focused students need, and greatly benefit from the opportunity to have hands-on experiential healthcare experiences in an international setting! I have seen the growth of students post travel as their self-confidence in their newly acquired skillsets, both clinical and cultural, facilitates their ability to take advantage of opportunities that previously may not have been available to them. By rendering care internationally, and stepping outside one's comfort zone, many more doors of opportunity will be opened. Feel free to check out our website at www.islonline.org, follow us on Instagram @ islmedical, and reach out to me @ DrH@islonline.org [DrH@islonline.org]

Build A Medical Career By Serving Abroad

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2534345/fan_mail/new] Watching medicine up close can change your plans fast, especially when you see it practiced in places that don’t have the safety net of big hospitals, endless imaging, and overflowing supplies. We sit down with Brice, a University of South Carolina grad and cardiology medical scribe, to unpack how mentorship and service learning turned his interest in medicine into a clear direction and a bigger mission. We start with the nuts and bolts of being a paid clinical scribe: learning Epic, sharpening documentation, understanding diagnostic tests, and building the kind of long-term physician mentorship most pre-med students struggle to find. Then we go abroad. Brice shares what it felt like to leave the country for the first time on a Costa Rica service learning trip, why the happiness he saw in underserved communities surprised him, and the patient moments that made healthcare disparities impossible to ignore. From there, Belize takes it further with a rare mix of free clinics and hospital rotations. Brice describes what resource-limited wards look like, what he learns from physicians who can do “so much with so little,” and a standout OR experience where an orthopedic surgeon teaches fracture care and imaging like a personal masterclass. We close with Brice’s advice for students worried about cost or fear of the unknown, plus details on the upcoming Tanzania gap-year trip built around hospital time, clinics, and cultural experiences. If you’re thinking about global health, gap year plans, medical Spanish, or finding real mentorship before med school, hit play, share this with a friend who needs the push, and subscribe and leave a review so more future clinicians can find the show. I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to not only share with you our guest’s introduction to international healthcare, but also to share with you how that exposure to international healthcare has shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations.  As a 50+ year nurse that has worked in quite a variety of clinical roles in our healthcare system, taught healthcare courses for the past 20 years at the university level, and has traveled extensively with my students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that healthcare focused students need, and greatly benefit from the opportunity to have hands-on experiential healthcare experiences in an international setting! I have seen the growth of students post travel as their self-confidence in their newly acquired skillsets, both clinical and cultural, facilitates their ability to take advantage of opportunities that previously may not have been available to them. By rendering care internationally, and stepping outside one's comfort zone, many more doors of opportunity will be opened. Feel free to check out our website at www.islonline.org, follow us on Instagram @ islmedical, and reach out to me @ DrH@islonline.org [DrH@islonline.org]

Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone Changed How I See Medicine

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2534345/fan_mail/new] A patient waits weeks with a worsening cough, trying herbal tea because a clinic is hard to reach and a hospital visit can cost an entire day of work. That single reality drives so much of what we explore with Leah, a University of South Carolina neuroscience grad and future DO student who’s served on international medical mission trips in Honduras, Costa Rica, Belize, and the Dominican Republic. Her stories aren’t highlight reels. They’re a clear look at what healthcare access actually means when distance, transportation, and time decide whether someone gets help. We talk through what it’s like to move from participant to leader, including the unglamorous parts people don’t warn you about: upset stomachs, food and water precautions, and the responsibility of making sure students stay safe and supported. Leah also breaks down how strong in-country coordination can make clinics run smoothly, and why understanding local pharmacy norms matters, especially in places where antibiotics may be easier to get than they should be. Belize becomes a turning point for mentorship and medical education. Leah shares what she learned alongside fourth-year medical students, what surprised her in hospital shadowing, and how quickly you realize that systems and workflows change when resources are limited. We also dig into interpreters, medical Spanish, cultural humility, and the idea that your most sustainable impact often comes through patient education and respect, not just prescriptions. If global health, international service learning, medical Spanish, osteopathic medicine, and healthcare access are on your mind, this conversation will give you practical insight and honest motivation. Subscribe, share this with a future healthcare professional, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway: what would push you to step outside your comfort zone? I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to not only share with you our guest’s introduction to international healthcare, but also to share with you how that exposure to international healthcare has shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations.  As a 50+ year nurse that has worked in quite a variety of clinical roles in our healthcare system, taught healthcare courses for the past 20 years at the university level, and has traveled extensively with my students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that healthcare focused students need, and greatly benefit from the opportunity to have hands-on experiential healthcare experiences in an international setting! I have seen the growth of students post travel as their self-confidence in their newly acquired skillsets, both clinical and cultural, facilitates their ability to take advantage of opportunities that previously may not have been available to them. By rendering care internationally, and stepping outside one's comfort zone, many more doors of opportunity will be opened. Feel free to check out our website at www.islonline.org, follow us on Instagram @ islmedical, and reach out to me @ DrH@islonline.org [DrH@islonline.org]

Public Health & Service Learning: A Pathway to Internal Medicine

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2534345/fan_mail/new] A four-hour drive should not be the difference between a routine fix and a life-altering outcome, but in many places it is. We sit down with Austin, a graduating medical student about to start internal medicine residency, to talk through the moments that made global health feel real: the patients you cannot “just transfer,” the family decisions shaped by cost and distance, and the quiet skills that matter when resources are limited.  Austin walks us through his training path from the University of South Carolina, where he switched from biology to a public health degree and then earned an MPH. We unpack why public health is more than a nice add-on for premeds: it is a framework for health equity, social determinants of health, and understanding how systems push patients toward or away from care. If you have ever wondered whether you need a specific major to get into medicine, this conversation brings clarity without the hype.  From there, we explore international service learning and experiential medical education through three settings: a first service learning trip to Nicaragua, a Guatemala project studying diabetes prevalence in underserved communities, and a month in Uganda combining clinical learning with quality improvement and capacity building. Austin shares how a teach the teacher mindset turns short rotations into sustainable impact, plus what “MacGyver medicine” looks like when creativity replaces equipment.  If you are weighing an international rotation, we talk honestly about motivations, costs, and what it can and cannot do for your application. Subscribe for more global health and service learning stories, share this with a student who is on the fence, and leave a review if it helped you think differently. What experience has most shaped the kind of clinician you want to become? I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to not only share with you our guest’s introduction to international healthcare, but also to share with you how that exposure to international healthcare has shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations.  As a 50+ year nurse that has worked in quite a variety of clinical roles in our healthcare system, taught healthcare courses for the past 20 years at the university level, and has traveled extensively with my students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that healthcare focused students need, and greatly benefit from the opportunity to have hands-on experiential healthcare experiences in an international setting! I have seen the growth of students post travel as their self-confidence in their newly acquired skillsets, both clinical and cultural, facilitates their ability to take advantage of opportunities that previously may not have been available to them. By rendering care internationally, and stepping outside one's comfort zone, many more doors of opportunity will be opened. Feel free to check out our website at www.islonline.org, follow us on Instagram @ islmedical, and reach out to me @ DrH@islonline.org [DrH@islonline.org]