MS 3 interested because of international opportunities

[acepoint]

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hey guys,
i'm an MS 3 who came into med school with the eventual goal of doing a great deal of international health. i became interested in ophtho in large part because of the international applications that I can see (quick surgeries, high impact). Am I correct in saying that Ophtho can lend itself to developing country work easily, or is this just a perception that I have?

I know of a few programs (uniteforsight of course), but there does not seem to be a lot of talk on here about the possibility of developing nation work. Because this is why i came into medical school, i'd love to hear opinions on ophtho and possible other specialties that could be out there that have a meaningful heavy hand in developing countries.

 

[acepoint]

anyone?

 

[Jokestr]

If international work is what you want to do, I say great! It is very rewarding and fun. Ophtho is a great field for international work. You are right about uniteforsight, but there are others also. SEE international, and the better known ORBIS are a couple others. But these are just the large organizations. There are many other opportunities on your own, or on smaller scale operations.
All that being said, know that ophtho is not the only area for international work. If your main goal of medicine is international work, then you should get more experience with both international medicine and other specialties to learn what you truly love to do. You may also think about extra study in public health. Any type of MD can practice medicine internationally as there is an ABUNDANCE of third world work to go around. So my advice would be to figure out what you enjoy the most and go that route. If it is ophthalmology great, if not then make sure you are choosing the specialty that you love. I personally will stick with ophtho!