What inspired you to travel abroad?
I’ve always known I wanted to spend time abroad learning medicine – whether it would end up being a semester abroad, a medical mission, or something else, I couldn’t have predicted. It wasn’t until about a year ago when I started doing research on maternal mortality rates across the world that I really narrowed the scope of where I wanted to be and why.
Sub-Saharan Africa is a beautiful part of the world, saturated with culture and history. It is also a part of the world where maternal mortality and infant mortality are extremely high. I am extremely passionate about both women’s health and neonatology, so I knew I needed to be in the eye of the storm, so to speak. I needed to see the worst of it so I knew how I would be able to help once I graduate and become a physician assistant.
Some friends from the hospital and my friend and fellow intern Juliet
Why did you choose International Medical Aid?
I chose International Medical Aid for several reasons. First, I noticed that they choose not to “import” doctors from the United States or other nations, and instead work directly with Kenyan doctors and other medical professionals already working in the hospital in which I was interning. I admire this immensely because I feel it can be more harmful than helpful to bring foreign doctors who aren’t familiar with the culture, language, or even procedures within a hospital then allow those doctors to go back to their country, leaving a gaping hole in their wake with nothing to replace it.
I also noticed how much International Medical Aid does for their community, hosting many community clinics and information sessions for grade-school children. These outreach programs improve the health of the community as a whole which I believe is essential for the health of a country.
What was your favorite part about Kenya?
Kenya is the most vibrant, culturally saturated country I’ve been to. Not only were the people in Mombasa welcoming and warm but the backdrop – the Indian Ocean, the bustling markets, the lively beach towns – were all invaluable parts of the experience as well. It’s hard to pick a favorite part of a city I came to love so dearly, but something that set Mombasa apart from all of my other travels was the willingness of everyone around me to accept me as family.
It didn’t matter that I don’t speak the language or that my name can be hard to pronounce for someone whose first language is Swahili, or that I have a different skin color from most of the people I met. To them, I was just family, and that was that. Never have I felt so instantly accepted in a country so different from my own. This is why I have to say the people in Mombasa were my favorite part because my experience would have been so different without them.
What made your experience abroad extraordinary?
I honestly wish I could answer “everything.” There was truly nothing ordinary about my stay in Mombasa, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Something that sticks out to me is the fact that all the interns were so well taken care of by the staff – the drivers, housekeepers, kitchen staff, and mentors all put in so much work to make sure we were always comfortable and happy – seems out of the ordinary for most medical internships abroad.
From what I know about other internship programs, a lot of the arrangements outside the hospital are up to the intern to figure out by themselves. With IMA taking care of everything for us, we didn’t have to stress about where to get dinner, how to get around, or where to stay.
How did the local program staff support you throughout your program?
The local staff gave me more support than I ever could have expected or asked for. From the time my plane landed on the ground, I felt that everything was taken care of for me. I was picked up from the airport by one of the program coordinators who started orienting me on the drive home – telling me about landmarks, a bit about the culture and language, and what to expect from my stay in Mombasa.
My mentors were wonderful in familiarizing me with the hospital I was to be interning at and the area of Mombasa we stayed in. Throughout my time in the program, the whole staff continually checked in to make sure I was comfortable and happy. I was able to request night shifts and afternoon shifts which was a big deal in supporting my passion for working in the labor and delivery ward. The entire staff holds a very special place in my heart.
What's one thing you wish you would have done differently during your time abroad?
I wish I wouldn’t have been so afraid to ask questions and get involved during my first few weeks at the hospital. The hospital that the interns were shadowing at is a teaching hospital, so most of the doctors there were perfectly willing to answer questions and show us how to do things, but it was up to the interns themselves to ask the questions.
It took me a while to understand that if I didn’t ask questions, the doctors would assume I wasn’t interested in learning. Once I got the hang of speaking up, reading and researching to keep up, and asking all the questions I could, the doctors seemed to really enjoy teaching me and having me as an intern. I became close with so many of the doctors at the hospital just by being personable and interested in learning, and they respected me because I chose to study alongside the Kenyan students there.
Menstrual hygiene clinic at a primary school
Describe what a typical day in your life abroad looked like.
A typical day for me would start relatively early, depending on what time the drivers were leaving for the hospital. I would wake up, get ready for the day, and have breakfast with some of the other interns.
Around 8:00 a.m. we would arrive at the hospital and go to our respective departments. Depending on the department, the day could be a lot of quiet observation and shadowing, or it could be more hands-on. My favorite department was obstetrics and gynecology, where I would spend the day in either the labor and delivery, gynecology, or prenatal ward.
Being allowed to watch gynecological surgeries up-close was one of my favorite parts of my experience. Around 1:00 or 1:30 p.m. the interns would be picked up from the hospital and taken back to the residence, where lunch would be prepared for us. Our afternoons were mostly free, but at least once a week we would all go to a primary school and teach the students about either hand washing and teeth hygiene or menstrual hygiene.
If I chose to do a night shift, I would have dinner beforehand and leave around 7:00 p.m. All of my night shifts were completed in OB/GYN. At around 6:00 a.m., the drivers would take the interns who did a night shift home.
What did you enjoy doing in your free time abroad?
During my free time, I usually liked to either do some research on my notes from the hospital or prepare for the next day by studying and reading. If it was really sunny outside, I would go out and read or lounge by the pool, but if it was raining all the interns would hang out in the common room and watch movies together or play games, or else just discuss what we saw at the hospital that day.
During the weekends, we liked to go to the mall or go sightseeing, but mostly we would enjoy our free time in the pool. Occasionally, on the weekend, we would all get dressed up and go to the local bar to go dancing and meet up with friends from the hospital. The staff always had recommendations for things to do around town and places to go see and there was never a dull moment!
What type of accommodation did you have? What did you like best about it?
Our accommodations were basically three houses on one gated property. I lived in the main house as I was one of the first interns to arrive for the summer session – the main house is where the kitchen, dining room, and common area all were so that’s where you could find most of the interns at any given point during the day.
I shared a bedroom with two other girls, and we all shared a bathroom – this was the typical arrangement for most of the interns as far as I know. All of our meals were prepared for us by the chef and kitchen staff, our laundry was done every day, and the house was cleaned thoroughly every day. There was a pool on the property as well as several outdoor spaces where interns could relax or do work. The property was within a gated community with a guard present at both the community gates and the property gates 24/7.
What is one thing every future participant should know about your program before their program begins?
Before the program begins, every future intern should let go of their inhibitions and just jump in with two feet. It is so important to be outgoing, personable, and to ASK QUESTIONS! The doctors at the hospital want to teach, and as long as an intern is asking questions, they’re happy to give you all the information they have.
Get as involved as possible and take night shifts and afternoon shifts and get as much exposure to the hospital environment as possible. Take the lead in the primary school hygiene clinics. It can be so rewarding to teach kids about proper hygiene and their bodies! Most of all, remember from the beginning of the program that time goes by so quickly, so it’s important to make the most of every day in the program.
Would you recommend your program/provider to others? Why?
I give this question a resounding, yes! I already have recommended this program to so many other students who I know are interested in internships abroad. First and foremost, I was able to do so much more in terms of shadowing in Kenya than I would have been able to in the United States.
I am already ahead of my peers in my academic program because I’ve been able to see surgeries up close, interact with patients, perform, print, and interpret radiology scans, assist in delivering newborns, and so much more. I also think it’s so important for future medical professionals from the United States to understand how privileged we are here, and how under-resourced developing nations can be.
Our excursion to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve
What do you feel the biggest benefit of traveling abroad is?
I feel the biggest benefit of traveling abroad is being able to be immersed in a culture other than the one I grew up with. It has made me understand that, although our traditions, food, and clothing may be different, we’re all human.
At the very core of humanity all over the world is love for one another and the goodness in our hearts that make us want to help each other. Traveling abroad makes the world seem a little bit smaller, and understanding other cultures makes us more empathetic and compassionate people. As a future healthcare professional, my time abroad will assist me in my career by allowing me to better serve all my patients, whether they come from my own culture or another.
Now that you're home, how has your time abroad impacted your life?
My time in Mombasa has impacted me in more ways than I can enumerate here. Interning in the hospital has solidified my chosen career path and has encouraged me to strive to eventually earn an M.D. in obstetrics and gynecology.
I’m not sure when that day will come, but when it does, I will be sending so many thank-yous out to the doctors who mentored me in Kenya and encouraged me to reach higher with my career than I thought possible. My program has also planted the seed in my mind that I would love to go to Kenya again, and possibly live there for a time. I never imagined I could feel so at home in a place so far away, but International Medical Aid made that possible for me.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
To me, meaningful travel is travel that allows you to leave a piece of yourself in that country, and in exchange, you carry around a piece of that country in your heart. Meaningful travel is intentional travel. Being intentional about how you spend your time, with whom you spend your time, and how you interact with the culture of the place you’ve traveled.
Meaningful travel is both meaningful to the traveler and to the people they interact with. I made so many life-long friends in Kenya who I know had a massive impact on me, and I hope I also had an impact on them. I know my time spent in Kenya was meaningful because I was devastated to have to leave, but that just gives me a reason to go back in the future.
