What inspired you to travel abroad with International Medical Aid (IMA)?
Prior to this experience, I spent a year volunteering on board a hospital ship in West Africa. This had already lit a small spark in my soul to become a physician and spend my career alleviating human suffering. Particularly, in under-resourced countries.
So, why IMA? I needed to confirm that I can manage the physical and emotional rigor involved in working with such communities. I needed to see the challenges firsthand (and not aboard a ship using first-world medical equipment). IMA provided this!
Why did you choose IMA?
International Medical Aid is a wonderfully unique organization. It takes students from some of the most privileged countries across the globe, placing them in a vast, severely under-resourced hospital in East Africa.
The opportunity to peer over the shoulders of African surgeons—even sharing meals with them—to discuss the challenges they face, is invaluable to any student who plans on pursuing international medical relief work. This is the experience provided by IMA.
We led hygiene education sessions throughout the internship. This is a photo of us going through the basics of dental hygiene!
What was your favorite part about Kenya?
There existed much sadness and brokenness within Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital (CGTRH). This was a difficult reality to face. However, I was struck by the resilience and fortitude that almost all of the patients demonstrated.
It is easily argued that hospitals, by nature, are filled with such people. However, the people of Kenya are a passionate bunch. I was continually impressed by Mombasa, both in the hospital and in the city. Specifically, I was impressed by the economic weight they carry, and how well they carry it.
What made your experience abroad extraordinary?
I do not know of ANY other experience abroad that allows undergraduate students to learn so much about medicine in a setting like CGTRH. Not only were we able to learn in a developing country, but we were given the opportunity to study a vast range of techniques in various specialties.
Very few undergraduate students have shadowed in neurosurgery, general surgery, intensive care, NICU, pediatrics, ENT, internal medicine, emergency, and various other specialties—much less in a unique setting like Mombasa, Kenya. This is extraordinary.
Old Town Mombasa
How did the local program staff support you throughout your program?
The merits of our program staff cannot be overstated. First, they ensured that interns learn as much as possible in each specialty, while not overstepping any professional boundaries. This is a very difficult balance to strike, though they did so wonderfully.
Second, they worked tirelessly to provide for our safety AND comfort throughout the program. This included passage through the city, home cooked meals, advice/counsel, or any other needs we had.
Did your program provide specific pre-departure Covid support? If yes, tell us what kind of support you received.
Our staff was on standby to help us with whatever we needed to travel. They helped us with all the visa information and I had no hiccups.
PPE was provided at the residence for all our needs. They had contacts at a few premier hospitals in case any of us got ill. In fact, one intern did get quite ill, and the staff wasted no time helping them get the medical attention they needed.
How did your program help you stay (and feel) safe abroad amidst the ongoing pandemic?
At this point in 2022, the pandemic was fizzling out like a flat soda. We were provided with PPE, and we wore masks in the hospital, but this was intended to prevent exposure to more deadly diseases than Covid.
The program staff afforded us every comfort with regard to Covid. At this stage in the pandemic, it was superfluous but appreciated.
What's one thing you wish you would have done differently during your time abroad?
Looking back on the entire eight weeks, I wish that I had carefully researched the diseases, procedures, and techniques I was seeing in the hospital. We were exposed to so much information and data on the human body (and how it can go awry).
I wish that I had returned from the hospital each night and carefully studied each facet of the day. I know that I'll dive deep into this during medical school, but it would have been helpful.
Describe what a typical day in your life abroad looked like.
Frequently, I woke up at sunrise and went running throughout the city. I then came back to the residence, showered, put on scrubs, and went for breakfast. After a short bus ride to the hospital, I spent each morning and part of the afternoon shadowing doctors in certain specialties.
This could have been surgery, pediatrics, intensive care, etc., depending on the week. I was then shuttled back to the residence, ate a late lunch, and often participated in lectures until dinner. After dinner, our time was our own.
Outing to a wood carving village near the city.
What did you enjoy doing in your free time abroad?
The options were endless! After about six weeks, I had participated in almost all of the mandatory lectures, so my free time began in the early afternoon.
I read a plethora of books. I went to the beaches and studied the local marine biology. I went on runs around the city. I went to local markets and chatted with the shop owners. I spent some time researching the diseases I came into contact with (though not as often as I should have). I explored the city!
What type of accommodation did you have? What did you like best about it?
The residence was a small gated/guarded apartment complex. It was perfectly safe, had a pool, and the chefs worked endlessly to provide stellar food for us. They worked with all types of appetites and allergies. It felt strange being provided so well for, but we didn't even have to do our own laundry!
What is one thing every future participant should know about your program before their program begins?
I'd advise that future interns not treat it like a vacation, but as an intense course on clinical practices.
It is certainly possible to view this internship as an opportunity to experience Kenyan culture—and this is a valuable part of the experience—but we are first and foremost students of medicine.
This means that your eyes should be firmly set on the work before you in the hospital. Enjoy yourself though!
Would you recommend your program/provider to others? Why?
I would certainly recommend this program to most undergraduate students. Particularly, I would encourage students who have decided to enter the medical field but aren't sure why.
This experience brings you face to face with the fragility of life. It shows why physicians are so important in local communities. Experiences like this make better clinicians out of us all.
One of my final sessions leading the kids in oral hygiene. Loved these kiddos.
What do you feel the biggest benefit of traveling abroad is?
Generally speaking, traveling abroad exposes students—particularly students of narrow vision—to a host of diverse and beautiful cultures. This can be seen in the landscape, the local people, and the various areas of study you might engage in.
It broadens horizons and inspires students to take their global citizenship seriously.
Now that you're home, how has your time abroad impacted your life?
If my first experience volunteering in West Africa set off a spark in my soul for the medical field, then my experience in East Africa fanned it into a flame.
Upon my return, I became of singular focus: to become a physician and return to the developing parts of the globe. I have been given the opportunity to carefully observe medicine abroad, and I'm on fire to practice abroad.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
This is an interesting question. The term meaningful travel rests on an axiom that I think will be helpful to discuss. It assumes that there is "meaningless travel." Generally, I agree. This is what we call a vacation—being quite distinct from “meaningful travel.”
Traveling to Cancun to relax and enjoy the sunshine on the beach is certainly not wrong, but its purpose is slightly shallow. For travel to be of distinct value, it ought to broaden the horizons of a student. It ought to take effort and a bit of elbow grease. It ought to inspire them to search out the corners of the globe and to enjoy themselves doing it.
