Doing Work In Another Country?

[gottamakeit]

Im trying to go to another country to do an expedition or something medical related...how do I go about doing so without paying alot of money?

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[panamadoc422]

Im trying to go to another country to do an expedition or something medical related...how do I go about doing so without paying alot of money?

you skip out on all the organizations that charge outrageous fees to hold your hand. The downside of this is you have to arrange everything on your own. This may seem daunting but all it entails is finding a hospital that will accept you and somewhere to live. I made it work at Kanti Children's Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. Good luck.

 

[xxbruinxx]

you skip out on all the organizations that charge outrageous fees to hold your hand. The downside of this is you have to arrange everything on your own. This may seem daunting but all it entails is finding a hospital that will accept you and somewhere to live. I made it work at Kanti Children's Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. Good luck.

can you provide any details? how did you go about finding people to host you, or finding info. on what needs to be done in order to go there...

were you able to get any sort of financial assistance? I'm guessing the answer is no, but just thought i'd ask

thx

 

[xxbruinxx]

you skip out on all the organizations that charge outrageous fees to hold your hand. The downside of this is you have to arrange everything on your own. This may seem daunting but all it entails is finding a hospital that will accept you and somewhere to live. I made it work at Kanti Children's Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. Good luck.

can you provide any details? how did you go about finding people to host you, or finding info. on what needs to be done in order to go there...

were you able to get any sort of financial assistance? I'm guessing the answer is no, but just thought i'd ask

thx

 

[nmnrraven]

Im trying to go to another country to do an expedition or something medical related...how do I go about doing so without paying alot of money?

If you know a foreign language like Spanish, you can theoretically go on your own. Some desolate place in Mexico would love to have a volunteer. I know it's scary but it's prehaps the best thing you or anyone can do for their application outside of academia.

If you're too worried about that, join the peace corps. Also, once you get out, write something about it and get it published somewhere. If you do this and you have decent grades, MCAT and letters of Rec, you WILL get in. That's my guarantee.


*Decent refers to the following: A GPA of 4.0, an MCAT of 45T, and letters of rec from the presidents of four of the five permanent members of the UN.

 

[lookslikerain]

Im trying to go to another country to do an expedition or something medical related...how do I go about doing so without paying alot of money?

If you're still in school, then you can usually get funding through them. I did some healthcare research in a developing country and had all my expenses paid for by a grant from my school. All I had to do was write a research proposal and have it approved by a committee. I know someone who is going on a medical mission trip this summer to Mexico and he also got funding from our school. Of course, it helps that there is lots of money set aside at my school for scholarships for travel grants.

 

[PariPari]

Im trying to go to another country to do an expedition or something medical related...how do I go about doing so without paying alot of money?

This is my qualified opinion on this subject after just being here a few weeks & doing a bunch of searches. To us it might seem flashy & like a big deal, but now there's a market for "pre-med" o/s medical experiences (like cfhi.org) who charge money & set you up w/ clinical experiences. All the time, effort, & money may as well be put to healthcare in your own community b/c we all should know that just b/c it's america doesn't mean there isn't a need for volunteers in the community clinics.
just my $.02

 

[Rafa]

All the time, effort, & money may as well be put to healthcare in your own community b/c we all should know that just b/c it's america doesn't mean there isn't a need for volunteers in the community clinics.

99% of the time, going overseas isn't nearly as much about getting "clinical experience" or any of that jazz as much as it's an attempt to land a hook for applying to med school. If people really wished to improve the human condition via volunteering, we'd do it in our backyards and in our hometowns - not five hundred miles away in NOLA or seven time zones east in Africa. It's song and dance with very little meaning behind it. But people do it anyway.

 

[LizzyM]

I agree that there is plenty of need here in the US but there are opportunities abroad that just don't exist here. No pre-med in the States gets a volunteer gig that provides the opportunity to be the second pair of hands at the delivery of a baby by kerosine lamp. There are many more opportunities to get your hands dirty abroad than there are here where malpractice worries, etc are a barrier.

Of course, if you haven't any medical skills (yet), and if you haven't language skills, what exactly do you plan to do that would be helpful? Once you've identified what it is that you can do, the challenge is to find someone who needs that help and who will "put you up" for the duration and look after you/contact your next of kin if you should become deathly ill, suffer an accident, etc. When I wanted to visit the very rural areas of a third-world country where I was planning to be for other reasons, I was able to connect with my aunt's friend's brother who was a missionary in that region and he took me out and introduced me to the local people and discussed with me the issues facing the folks there. It wasn't a medical mission trip but those "three degrees of separation" can get you connected with someone who knows someone and you take it from there.