International Service Learning: Experiential Education

Organ Donation, Global Service, And A Med School Journey (Original Release 1/19)

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2534345/fan_mail/new] Organ donation sounds simple until you see what it actually requires: a family facing the worst day of their lives, a hospital balancing end-of-life care with dignity, and teams flying in from across the country to recover and transplant organs on a tight clock. We sit down with Shelby, a former student of mine who just got a medical school acceptance call minutes before we record, to unpack what happens behind the scenes in transplant medicine and why this work changes you. Shelby shares what she learned working with an organ procurement organization and now as a certified transplant preservationist supporting heart, lung, liver, and kidney logistics. We talk about the language we use, the teamwork it takes to coordinate operating rooms and visiting surgical teams, and the small details that protect organ viability during transport and preservation. We also spend time on the human moments, including honor walks and how trained coordinators help families understand and carry out a patient’s final wishes. Then we zoom out to the bigger theme: building a healthcare career through experiential education. Shelby walks through Teach for America during COVID, research supporting multilingual learners, and the Nicaragua service learning trip that helped her decide medicine was the right path. If you’re searching for real-world insight on organ donation, transplant coordination, pre-med gap years, or international service learning, this conversation delivers both practicality and heart. Subscribe for more stories from the field, share this episode with someone considering healthcare, and leave a review with the biggest takeaway you’re carrying forward. I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to "share the voices of international service" with you!  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 students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that it is the hands-on experiential experiences that are most meaningful in life! I hope that by hearing these voices you too can become involved in service, whether it be locally, nationally, or internatioally.  Feel free to check out our website at www.internationalservicelearning.org, follow us on Instagram @islmedical, or send me an email at                                      DrH@internationalservicelearning.org [DrH@islonline.org] if you wasnt to learn more about international opportunities for yourself, your school, your church, or any other cohort!

A Trip To Kenya Reframed What Nursing Means (Original Release 3/23)

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2534345/fan_mail/new] You can be clinically prepared and still feel unprepared the moment you meet the need face to face. I’m Dr. Patrick “Dr. H” Hickey, and I sit down with Camila, an ICU nurse and case manager in Texas who took a faith-based medical mission trip to Kenya and came home with a completely reframed view of what nursing means. Camila shares how she entered nursing later in life after a personal patient experience, then added an MBA that unexpectedly sharpened her ability to advocate for families during transition of care. That blend of bedside nursing and systems thinking comes alive in Kenya, where her team sets up clinics across villages, partners with local healthcare professionals, and leans heavily on education: hydration, hygiene, wound care, oral care, and recognizing urgent illness when resources are limited. You’ll hear what conditions showed up most often, what surprised her, and why “doing something small” can still be the most meaningful care you give. We also talk about the parts people don’t always name: the emotional weight of seeing preventable suffering, the challenge of diagnosing issues like vision loss when specialty care is out of reach, and the culture shock that follows you home. Camila describes the guilt of returning to abundance, and how the trip makes her see healthcare waste in the United States with new clarity, sparking practical questions about saving resources and sharing supplies responsibly. If you’re a nurse, nursing student, or anyone drawn to international service learning, global health, and patient advocacy for underserved communities, this conversation offers a steady, honest starting point. Subscribe, share this with someone who’s on the fence about serving, and leave a review with the moment that stuck with you most. I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to "share the voices of international service" with you!  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 students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that it is the hands-on experiential experiences that are most meaningful in life! I hope that by hearing these voices you too can become involved in service, whether it be locally, nationally, or internatioally.  Feel free to check out our website at www.internationalservicelearning.org, follow us on Instagram @islmedical, or send me an email at                                      DrH@internationalservicelearning.org [DrH@islonline.org] if you wasnt to learn more about international opportunities for yourself, your school, your church, or any other cohort!

Build a Medical Career by Serving Abroad (Original Release 5/26)

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2534345/fan_mail/new] One week abroad can do what years of “checking the boxes” can’t: it can make medicine feel real. We sit down with Bryce, a University of South Carolina grad and paid cardiology medical scribe, to talk about the moment international service learning turned his curiosity about healthcare into a concrete vision for becoming a physician. Along the way, we unpack why scribing can be a high-value clinical experience for pre-med students, from learning Epic and medical documentation to seeing how trust is built over long-term follow-ups. Bryce walks us through two global health service trips, starting with Costa Rica and then a gap year trip to Belize that adds hospital rotations on top of community clinics. He shares the patient encounters that stay with him, including what it feels like to see cerebral palsy managed far from major hospitals and how much low-resource teams can accomplish with limited equipment. We also get into mentorship as the real engine of growth: physicians who teach, medical students who guide, and the “pay it forward” mindset that can shape an entire medical career. Then we look ahead. Bryce is now leading a two-week Tanzania experience built for gap year students who want meaningful hospital exposure in specialties like surgery, orthopedics, emergency medicine, pediatrics, and general medicine, plus cultural activities and optional excursions. If you care about global health, medical mission trips, underserved communities, or building clinical confidence before med school, this conversation offers a clear, honest roadmap. Subscribe, share this with a friend considering a gap year, and leave a review with one question you want answered about serving abroad. I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to "share the voices of international service" with you!  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 students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that it is the hands-on experiential experiences that are most meaningful in life! I hope that by hearing these voices you too can become involved in service, whether it be locally, nationally, or internatioally.  Feel free to check out our website at www.internationalservicelearning.org, follow us on Instagram @islmedical, or send me an email at                                      DrH@internationalservicelearning.org [DrH@islonline.org] if you wasnt to learn more about international opportunities for yourself, your school, your church, or any other cohort!

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 "share the voices of international service" with you!  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 students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that it is the hands-on experiential experiences that are most meaningful in life! I hope that by hearing these voices you too can become involved in service, whether it be locally, nationally, or internatioally.  Feel free to check out our website at www.internationalservicelearning.org, follow us on Instagram @islmedical, or send me an email at                                      DrH@internationalservicelearning.org [DrH@islonline.org] if you wasnt to learn more about international opportunities for yourself, your school, your church, or any other cohort!

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 "share the voices of international service" with you!  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 students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that it is the hands-on experiential experiences that are most meaningful in life! I hope that by hearing these voices you too can become involved in service, whether it be locally, nationally, or internatioally.  Feel free to check out our website at www.internationalservicelearning.org, follow us on Instagram @islmedical, or send me an email at                                      DrH@internationalservicelearning.org [DrH@islonline.org] if you wasnt to learn more about international opportunities for yourself, your school, your church, or any other cohort!