International medical opportunities for med students

[Peppermint Tea]

I was wondering if anyone here has done anything with Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders), Projects Abroad, or any other international volunteer organization? If so, can you please share your experiences abroad, like:

 

- Did you enjoy your experiences?

- What were your responsibilities?

- What did you learn?

- Would you recommend it to other medical school students?

[Michelle]

Hello Peppermint Tea,

 

Over the past several years, I have worked/volunteered for MSF (Doctors Without Borders), Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease, CIDA, and a couple smaller NGOs. The majority of my experiences with these organizations have been at least 6 months long, if not a year. None of these particular organizations accept medical students as volunteers, in part because of the length of time needed for most missions, but also because the work is demanding and there is often very little support, so there is simply no room for training "newbies". However, there are plenty of other roles someone without medical training could play within these organizations (think project manager, logistics, admin...whatever your other skills may be). In my case, I was first trained as a lab tech, and then as an epidemiologist, with management experience as well, so I had a variety of skills to bring to the table.

 

Having said that, I know that there are many other organizations that do offer shorter stints and definitely welcome the help of medical students....I just don't have experience with any of them (yet, anyway).

 

But, to answer your questions:

 

Did you enjoy your experiences? Most definitely. There is absolutely nothing like living and working overseas. It is challenging and often very difficult and frustrating, but in ways that make you grow as a person and become more effective in your life overseas and back at home. Usually I worked with expats from other developed countries, as well as locals. This is often the most rewarding experience of all - learning how to live and work with a bunch of people who all share different languages, cultures, and approaches to medicine, all within a completely foreign and often non-existent health care system. You are challenged in every way on missions like these, and although there were days when I wondered why I put myself through it all, I always finished my missions grateful for them and eager for the next one. You have nothing but your own knowledge, experience, creativity, problem-solving skills, patience, communication skills, etc. to depend on, so I always feel more confident in myself at the end of a successful mission.

 

What were your responsibilities? This really depends on each individual project/mission, and what your particular role is within the project. To get a very vivid picture of the role of physicians within MSF missions, I'd strongly recommend the following blog: http://www.msf.ca/blogs/JamesM.php

This was written by an emerg doc from Toronto who recently completed his first mission with MSF in the Sudan. It is extremely well-written, and in my experience, very accurate and descriptive of the typical overseas experience.

 

What did you learn? Again, I can only comment on my particular kind of experiences, but to generalize, the biggest things I always learn is self-sufficiency, confidence in my own skills and abilities, cross-cultural communication, patience, diligence, decision making, creativity (especially in making do with very old equipment, or no equipment at all, no steady electricity, etc.), diplomacy is practiced every single day. My professional skills have always been enhanced as well. As a med student, you'd be guaranteed to see things you just wouldn't see much of here in Canada (think parasitic diseases, heart murmurs, thalassemias, sickle cell, various forms of malnutrition, all the stuff that stems from poverty, etc.). I've worked with many doctors on these missions, and they all frequently talk about having to rely on their diagnostic skills without the aid of lab tests, radiology, etc.

 

Would you recommend it to other medical school students? I would recommend overseas work to EVERYONE, but particularly med students. There really is no better way to learn something than to be dropped into a foreign country where everything seems so different. When you are away from the things that make you comfortable, and the things outside of yourself that you depend on the most are taken away, you have no choice but to depend on nothing but yourself and your training. It is an incredible learning experience.

 

I am sorry this post ended up being so long - this is a subject I am very passionate about! If you have more specific questions, feel free to PM me.

 

Michelle