International Medical Volunteering

There are 2 or 3 other threads going on this topic in pre-allo.

I give ISL a reserved recommendation (www.islonline.org). My reservations about ISL are that it a) is expensive, b) is frequently disorganized, and c) spends more time than I like on tourist activities. There is also an occasional evangelical christian vibe which I've mostly been able to ignore.

That said, I like ISL, and I keep going back, because it's very hands on with patient care, it's great exposure to Spanish, and I'm getting great contacts in Mexico and Central America.

A number of premed students that I know have done extensions for a month or more in Nicaragua. If it weren't for the cost, I'd be doing this as well.

Also from the pre-allo thread, take a look at Pop-Wuj. This is in Guatemala, it's inexpensive, and the health care opportunities are appropriate to your clinical experience (or lack thereof).

Best of luck to you.

I haven't had to research anything for a while, but I googled "service learning" and "student health volunteering" and stuff like that and followed my nose. One I remember is www.globalservicecorps.org. A number of colleges have extension learning web pages with lists of opportunities. www.idealist.org has so much information it's really hard to absorb.

Pop Wuj is worth looking at (search these forums for recommendations), as I mentioned. I was looking at Guatemala for Spanish immersion, and ended up staying interested for the clinic work. I'll most likely spend this coming summer there.

youve got to do unite for sight. i have done it twice before and am going again this summer. the unite for sight programs are what i live for every year. its always the greatest experience of my life. you go to an eye clinic and help the the nicest ophthalmologists. the ophthalmologists grew up and stayed in the country while hundreds of other doctors left for the west for money and opportunity. you know how lots of doctors in western hospitals don't have empathy or dedication? these ophthalmologists in developing countries that unite for sight works with, they are how all doctors should be. i just love them. i aspire to be like them.

http://www.uniteforsight.org/intl_volunteer

read the volunteer quotes too. there are hundreds of volunteer stories about life changing experiences. and the eye clinic quotes tell how helpful unite for sight is to the developing countries.

i dont think any volunteer org comes close to all the good that unite for sight does and the quality experience that the volunteers get too.

hey here is something else youll like
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-424538484738181565&hl=en

its a film about a ghana program in unite for sight. it really brings the experience to life.

i hate to hear about the tactics of orgs like you wrote about like isl and service corp.

when you decide what org you want to do your volunteering with really think hard about the type of org youre going with and whether theyre really doing good in the countries.

a lot of orgs send people for mission trips. they fly from the us, do some stuff for a week or two or maybe three and then leave. then the poverty stricken people are left where they started. they had health care for a week but thats it. never again. or maybe theyll see a doc again in 10 years

or the org attracts young idealist students to volunteer and you pay huge amounts...for what? do you know where that money goes? the pockets of their staff. i hate that. why isnt it going to the countries that need help? why arent they having the students donate to the countries that need help instead of expanding the pockets of the staff? why arent the staff at least hired from the poor countries? do you know how much a $300 salary for locals could do for them? us staff being paid tons is a company not a humanitarian mission.

if the org spends a lot of time on touristy stuff then you know youre not needed in the country. why would you be going to "volunteer" but then going on tourist trips? sure you can appreciate the tourist sites in the country but that should be local things in evenings or weekends, not full days. volunteer orgs shouldnt want you to be attracted by the tourist guise. if the countries really wanted you and needed you there would be no time for tourism except in nonworking hours.

so please please please think responsibly about the orgs out there. its sad when companies profit off of idealistic students who want to help raise people out of poverty. all youre doing is stuffing pockets of staff with moola.

its for all these reasons why i love unite for sight. youre needed and wanted and really really really make a difference. you fundraise to help hundreds of patients. no money goes into staff pockets. unite for sight isnt a tourist volunteer company. its a nonprofit org that needs volunteers to make a real difference. you help HOME COUNTRY DOCS. that means that if youre going to ghana then you work with ghanan docs. if youre going to india then you work with indian docs. those docs live there 24/7/365 so the patients always have access to care thanks to unite for sight and the docs. these docs bring you to the villages where mission trips would traditionally be done. but instead of a mission trip for a week, these docs go to these villages every month or whenever is needed. this is how international health needs to be. its responsible and what all orgs should be doing. all orgs can do it if they wanted and had the right priorities.

heres a video that shows you the results of the responsible great great great work of unite for sight http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-424538484738181565&hl=en
that ghana program in the google video is now 2 years old and running strong. totally run by locals.

and if you didnt already figure it out unite for sight is totally hands on, patient care supervised by the nicest home country docs you help the home country docs so you all accomplish alot together

http://www.uniteforsight.org/intl_volunteer

Premeder, I'm so excited for you that you found an organization that suits you.

It doesn't suit everybody. Other organizations are not automatically crap. You lose credibility with me if you list nothing wrong with your organization, moreso if you defame other programs, moreso if you sell it in page-long multiple posts in multiple forums on SDN. Nonetheless, I hope your enthusiasm gets some interested folks to join you; it sounds like a great (and flawless) program for eye health. I'm more than happy to return to ISL, flawed though it may be. If you look closely and ask questions, you'll see that your organization is flawed as well. Will you still participate?

You've suggested good ideas for how to choose an organization. Thank you for listing these; I totally agree. My priorities are the same. If poverty eradication is your goal, I suggest the book "The End of Poverty" by economist Jeffrey Sachs. Like me, perhaps your motivation was born from reading Paul Farmer, Laurie Garrett, Anne Fadiman, Abraham Verghese, etc. and solidified in an unstaffed public clinic with a dirt floor where a 4 month old with a staph infection and pneumonia receives antibiotics in a baggie from their usual in-country physician funded by US student dollars. Perhaps like me you know that our presence as pre-professionals is utterly irrelevant - we're the baggage that comes with our dollars.

Best of luck to you.

hey drmidlife

thats my point. youve got to find an org where this is not true = "our presence as pre-professionals is utterly irrelevant" its not true if you find the right orgs

the org i found gives this opportunity and the docs really need your help. i would think there are other orgs that are doing responsible work and really needing help. the other ones that are doing the really good work are probably the ones that we dont know about because they dont spend money on marketing and advertising. theyre the hidden stars quietly making big strides. i was lucky to find my org. i hadnt known about it before major internet searching.

i know for sure that your org is not classified under this from two friends who graduated with me from my mph program and were really distraught by what they had been part of in the name of "international health" in your org

also keep in mind that there are orgs that use full time docs in this same mission trip purpose. there is little to no good done if a full time doc goes to a country for 7 days, does some surgery or medical care, and leaves. even when youre a doc you need to find the responsible orgs that do good. doctors without borders is an example of quality because they are permanently in that country or refuguee camp. the doctors are not 7 day mission docs. they stay for months or years. of course paul farmers pih is another quality example. there are some five star orgs but a lot more that get 0 stars in my book.

if youre a doc going with a mission trip you could do a lot of good by insisting that a home country doc be part of the mission and creating a structure where the home country doc can visit those people in future months and years. orgs probably wouldnt listen to preprofessionals if you insisted on this from your org or another org before youre a doc but you could always try and get them to start thinking a little outside of their box.

all im saying is to think responsibly before you sign up to any org now or when youre a doctor. maybe you would have a nice time with an org that does 7 day missions but just remember your original purpose was to help. make sure youre going with an org that really does help. then you will know that you really were needed and did everything you could for those patients.

oh and the same goes for orgs you volunteer with in the u.s. make good use of your time and be part of a cause that you believe in