Question On Medical Mission/Trips

[LatinGuitarrist]

Guys, for those of you who have gone to another country to do a medical mission or a program for 1 week to 2 months how did you find about it? Did you have to pay for anything or was all paid for?

Ed

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[HumbleMD]

As an undergraduate without any real skills, even language skills, it usually involves paying (which is unfortunate - plane tikets, etc. are expensive). Luckily, my parents are quite faithful about supporting me in the mission field. I've gone to Southern Mexico with www.ima-missions.org for 4 years now and will be going agin this spring break. The mission is focused mostly on working with Mayan populations in village clinics, and performs surgeries in the nearby hospital. I found out about the program from some docs in my church.

 

[CarolinaGirl]

Unless you are going to go for an extended time >6mos you will most likely have to pay or find a scholarship. I have done numerous trips and have currently lived in SA for 3yrs.

You might need to figure out if you want to go with a religious organization or nonR. You can check with the North Amer. Mission Board, International Mission Board, local churches go pretty often, Christian Medical Dental Assoc.

Another way to check is to run internet searches. The most popular places would be for Central Amer. and Africa.

 

[Orthodoc40]

I found out through my mentor, who is running it. I have had to pay for it myself so far, but some of the people involved have gotten funding.

 

[I_Right_I]

Hi everyone. For my .02, try to make it to Intervarsity's Urbana Conference at the end of this year. http://www.urbana.org The conference is supposed to be the biggest clearinghouse of missions-related opportunities in the US. They literally host a few hundred agencies, soliciting applicants for positions in all sorts of disciplines, health included. I myself am looking for an opportunity to serve before postbacc in Fall '07, and will be there with a big stack 'o CV's. Good luck, all. Any bright ideas on agencies which offer substantive health-related experiences, shoot me a line.

::

 

[FutureLegend05]

Guys, for those of you who have gone to another country to do a medical mission or a program for 1 week to 2 months how did you find about it? Did you have to pay for anything or was all paid for?

Ed

i went on several medical missions and i recommend that you go if you have the passion for underserved medicine. i had to pay out of pocket for them. i've been to mongolia, south africa, and venezuela.

 

[szhao]

i really want to go on a medical missions trip this summer, assuming i get into med school, if i don't haha make money and apply again.

 

[DrMidlife]

Here are some programs that sell medical voluntourism. These don't mention God on their homepage.

www.islonline.org
www.crossculturalsolutions.org
www.travelalive.com

I did a 2 week trip with ISL, and I'm going back next week after finals. Avoidably Lutheran. Very hands-on with patient care. PM me if you want more scoop on this.

Financially, I think if you're creative and willing to do some work, you can either get sponsored or otherwise funded to do a trip. For example, at my school there's a "class" you can take where you get a faculty member to approve your trip, and you have to write a thesis thing, but you get up to 18 (quarter) units of credit which means you're financial aid eligible. I think taking out a loan to do this kind of project is quite reasonable.

Also, lots of schools have active programs for service learning or experiential learning, and you can usually find a list of international programs within these departmental websites. Here's one: http://www.ipe.washington.edu/

Best of luck to you.

 

[VanessaLee13]

Medical mission trips are an awesome experience. You are more than likely going to have to pay for it, but can raise money though friends, family, churches, local businesses, etc. It's a tax write-off for them to donate to you. Ask whatever organization you are interested in if there are any scholarship opportunities they might know about. If you want to go on a _medical_ trip, you will need to find one that accepts general helpers (if you aren't already a nurse, EMT, etc.). I am sure most do. Medical Ministry International/MMI (http://www.mmint.org/), the group I go with, does accept general helpers. There are both surgical (go into a hospital, do surgeries) and medical (go into villages and set up a medical clinic) aspects to many of their trips. They go to several different countries. I pay $1675 including airfare for my two week trip to Dominican Republic. If you have any questions, let me know.


Oh, and as far as the religious aspect goes: MMI is a religious organization. A lot of mission groups are. I am not at all religious, but did not have much of an issue with the fact that MMI is.

 

[JennyB]

i went on several medical missions and i recommend that you go if you have the passion for underserved medicine. i had to pay out of pocket for them. i've been to mongolia, south africa, and venezuela.

Where are you from in Australia?

 

[FutureLegend05]

Where are you from in Australia?

melbourne.

 

[JennyB]

Cool...I was on a research trip in Jervis Bay, which is south of Sydney by about an hour. I can't wait to go back to Australia. I loved that you could be in the middle of Sydney and see cockatoos flying over the buildings. Awesome!!!! The only thing I didn't like about it was the flies. Why are they so annoying and stupid? They don't even follow food. Instead, they just hang out on your back or your face in a big group. Gross!

 

[cowme]

Guys, for those of you who have gone to another country to do a medical mission or a program for 1 week to 2 months how did you find about it? Did you have to pay for anything or was all paid for?

Ed

I went on a mission with Operation Smile to Viet Nam last summer...really incredible experience. The only way to join a mission prior to medical school is as a patient imaging technician, which is basically photography (I have done photography for a while so it was a nice fit for me).

Anyways its mostly plastic surgery on children, ranging from cleft lips, cleft palates, to the occassional skin contracture from scalding or burning. As a photographer you'll be the only person allowed in the ORs besides the surgeons and nurses and anaesthesiologists, and they're incredibly helpful and willing to teach you anything you want to know. In fact, they even let one of the volunteers attach IVs and intubate patients on the last day! My mission was 2.5 wks, but some go over a month I know. I had to pay 450 but it included flights, 2 meals/day, lodging and transportation. It was a great experience, and they are incredibly well funded and well organized, and have missions on every continent (except Australia I believe).

If you're interested check out http://www.operationsmile.org, and best of luck!

 

[HumbleMD]

Hi everyone. For my .02, try to make it to Intervarsity's Urbana Conference at the end of this year. http://www.urbana.org The conference is supposed to be the biggest clearinghouse of missions-related opportunities in the US. They literally host a few hundred agencies, soliciting applicants for positions in all sorts of disciplines, health included. I myself am looking for an opportunity to serve before postbacc in Fall '07, and will be there with a big stack 'o CV's. Good luck, all. Any bright ideas on agencies which offer substantive health-related experiences, shoot me a line.

::

I'll be at Urbana this year as well, looking for a shorter missions experience this summer before I start Med School in the fall. I'd also love to talk to some of the doctors or agencies about what to look for in med schools (still trying to decide), and how to really have a self-funded career in working with the underserved.

 

[vtucci]

Most students pay out of pocket for them (esp to more exotic locales re: Vietnam, India etc).

However, some clubs on campus do fundraising to pay for the tickets and end up sleeping in churches during the trip. Check with your school.

 

[Sarg's kid]

As un undergrad, you have to pay for it. Or, more accurately, mommy and daddy pay for it.

The thing with the medical missions is that they don't demonstrate anything. Unless you built an organization and committed lots of work to making it happen (ie "I founded the flu shots for Lithuanian Orphans club") it demonstrates little more than your parents ability to write a check and your ability to fake caring for two weeks. What does a medical mission really say about you? Nothing. You cared enough to take a trip to a tropical climate over the school break and you have money to burn.

If you volunteer at a school/hospital/shelter for a year, THAT demonstrates a desire to help people and a committment to serving that far outstrips two weeks in Guatemala.

 

[dannylee718]

Wow,

I was first introduced to the medical mission field through my church. We go every year and I've been to 10 trips so far to Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Honduras-- each a multiple times (obviously). I'm encouraged to see that there are others out there who are passionate about it on SDN. Definately do it if you have the opportunity. If it costs $3000, raise the money! In my opinion, the lessons and truths that will be revealed to you through serving and loving total strangers are priceless. If you personally feel you JUST don't have it in you to feel compassionate about people, I would suggest that you STILL go! You'll surprise yourself! 😛

Urbana is definately a great resource for you to learn about opportunities. Most of the Overseas mission organizations will be there so def. go check it out. Or, I think you can go to their website (urbana.org) and maybe they'll have information there. Another great option I am thinking about is DTS. This one is a six-month overseas program. Check it out.

Godspeed with the med school apps and crapps people.

P.S. Do it for youself, not for the admissions committee. You'll find that you will get the MOST out of your experiences when you are genuine about everything you do (in my opinion, it would make you a stronger applicant in the end... but once again, don't even think about apps!).

 

[Quizzical]

I'm interested in doing something like this but I'm not too keen on the religious promoting aspect of the trips. Not that I have anything against religion, but what sort of keywords should I use to search to pull up non-religious affiliated missions?

 

[VanessaLee13]

I'm interested in doing something like this but I'm not too keen on the religious promoting aspect of the trips. Not that I have anything against religion, but what sort of keywords should I use to search to pull up non-religious affiliated missions?

In the past, I remember having problems finding mission groups with no religious affiliation at all. Maybe try contacting the group to see what they think. I am not Christian, but have been involved with MMI and Habitat for Humanity, both of which have a basis in Christianity. I usually just don't discuss my religious beliefs on the trip (although on the MMI application, they ask about spirituality/religion, which I was honest about, and was never questioned about it). I would not let this stop you from volunteering.

 

[VanessaLee13]

As un undergrad, you have to pay for it. Or, more accurately, mommy and daddy pay for it.

The thing with the medical missions is that they don't demonstrate anything. Unless you built an organization and committed lots of work to making it happen (ie "I founded the flu shots for Lithuanian Orphans club") it demonstrates little more than your parents ability to write a check and your ability to fake caring for two weeks. What does a medical mission really say about you? Nothing. You cared enough to take a trip to a tropical climate over the school break and you have money to burn.

If you volunteer at a school/hospital/shelter for a year, THAT demonstrates a desire to help people and a committment to serving that far outstrips two weeks in Guatemala.

Haha, I definitely agree that long term volunteering at a hospital is a great thing to do. But the few mission trips I have been on were definitely not a vacation. Yeah, we had one day at the beach at the end of the trip. But sleeping in basically open air bunk rooms, often with rats and spiders and mosquitoes, freezing cold showers (unless you put your shower bag out under the sun and got back before dark and the water in it was still warm), less than desireable bathroom facilities, 12+ hour work days, frequent power outages during surgery, frequent cases of diarrhea, etc. do not constitute a trip to a tropical climate. At least not a vacation to one. 🙂 And I definitely have not ever had the money to burn. I have saved and raised the money myself. Not everyone has their parent(s) pay for everything. And not all of us do it for the addition to an application. I am not even sure I am going the med school route. I do it because it is what I plan to do a good portion of my time in the future and I love doing it.

 

[Raindrop423]

As un undergrad, you have to pay for it. Or, more accurately, mommy and daddy pay for it.

The thing with the medical missions is that they don't demonstrate anything. Unless you built an organization and committed lots of work to making it happen (ie "I founded the flu shots for Lithuanian Orphans club") it demonstrates little more than your parents ability to write a check and your ability to fake caring for two weeks. What does a medical mission really say about you? Nothing. You cared enough to take a trip to a tropical climate over the school break and you have money to burn.

If you volunteer at a school/hospital/shelter for a year, THAT demonstrates a desire to help people and a committment to serving that far outstrips two weeks in Guatemala.

I don't want to be disrespectful to this person at all or say that the opinion isn't valid, but I was wondering if anyone else has opinions on this... do most people agree or disagree?

I personally am very interested in participating in this kind of trip (I've been looking into ISL), of course because I really want to help people if I can, but also for selfish reasons, too, I guess... I think it would be a good experience to have and hopefully my Spanish would improve if I went somewhere Spanish-speaking. Given the expense, though, I would feel more comfortable about spending the money that I could be saving for med school if admissions committees are likely to think favorably of this kind of thing. I mean, does it at least count as clinical experience or something?

Sorry... that was really clumsily said on my part... too much studying... but, anyway, any opinions on this would be really appreciated!

 

[premeder]

unite for sight is the best experiences of my life. ive gone twice and going again this summer. its not religious which i think is really good. no one is turned away because of religious affiliation, neither patients or volunteers.

i think unite for sight is a must for any premed or med student. it is all hands on and you work every day with local eye doctors who are the most dedicated people ive ever met. they do much to help their countries and need and want our volunteering to help them prevent blindness and restore sight.

tons of information on their website http://www.uniteforsight.org/intl_volunteer

SDN Ad http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=348829

 

[BananaShake]

Here's another option- see if you can get your school to foot the bill! I am going to northern India this winter with Himalayan Health Exchange and my college community service/spiritual foundation is covering all of the costs- from airfare to insurance. Often there are opportunities to get school funding that aren't necessarily advertised... it never hurts to ask.

 

[Quepasa]

I'm interested in doing something like this but I'm not too keen on the religious promoting aspect of the trips. Not that I have anything against religion, but what sort of keywords should I use to search to pull up non-religious affiliated missions?

There are a LOT of international voluteer opportunities listed on idealist.org, and it usually clearly states whether or not they have a religious affiliation. I've also been searching for something to do abroad, and idealist.org has been the most helpful resource so far.

 

[shantster]

Our school sponsors a trip through International Service Learning (islonline.org) each Spring Break to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. We had to pay for it, but through school I was able to receive a travel fellowship to offset the costs.

If costs are an issue for you, you can try talking with local organizations, family, and friends to help you raise money for the trip. I received additional money from my church at home and from my family and friends so that I didn't have to pay any extra cost.

 

[premeder]

youve also got to think about how important YOU are to the work abroad and make sure youre working with an ethical organization

i have read some questionable things about international service learning's tactics. a few of the programs at least work independent of country doctors. volunteer students fly in and fly out pretending to do medical work that should be reserved for real doctors. even if there arent real doctors in that place, international service learning should be getting real doctors to give the care, not students practicing their medical skills on the unknowing patients.

food for thought. dont be involved with an organization that isnt doing the best for communities and countries. work with organizations where you work side by side with the doctors. preferably those doctors are local country doctors because flying in doctors isnt sustainable for longterm change.

 

[amathew]

i went to two...and both were church sponsored. One was to India for a month to a children's rehabilitation center which was most probably the most life altering experience i had. The other was in Mexico post Hurrican Rita/Katrina, where we were rebuilding houses for those who lost it in the hurricane. Neither were religious in the sense that I was reading the Bible to them. I definitely recommend Medical missions, but don't do it just to make your application look good. You must be open to the fact that it might a rough 1 or 2 weeks and you're there to not just to help but to learn from the inhabitants as well. But I personally believe and I'm sure everyone who's done it will agree that you learn a lot and grow as a person when you go volunteer abroad.

Oh yea, and I had to pay for everything. To answer your original question.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

This is only my opinion, and I guess it's harsh...

I had the chance to go on a medical mission. I left during the early planning stages because it appeared to me like this: you pay lots of USD$, you get to go along with some group that has an ulterior motive (such as converting some foreign group to their religion) where you get to actually practice medicine on people who can't afford competent care while a pre-med student with very little training just to pad your medical school application.

I would think your money would be better spent funding Doctor's without borders and then volunteering for the same or similar group when you become an actual doctor or other medical professional.

 

[premeder]

LifetimeDoc, you hit the nail on the head. except you can't categorize all organizations into this. but all of the mission organizations i know of are like what you described. converting people to religions or helping them find God is just not right, and mixing that with medicine makes me sick sometimes.

there are some GREAT organizations that are totally opposite from those mission organizations.
doctors without borders 👍
unite for sight 👍 👍 premeds and med students have a real impact because you work WITH AND FOR the local eye doctors in the country. it's not a fly in fly out pretend you're a doctor thing.

This is only my opinion, and I guess it's harsh...

I had the chance to go on a medical mission. I left during the early planning stages because it appeared to me like this: you pay lots of USD$, you get to go along with some group that has an ulterior motive (such as converting some foreign group to their religion) where you get to actually practice medicine on people who can't afford competent care while a pre-med student with very little training just to pad your medical school application.

I would think your money would be better spent funding Doctor's without borders and then volunteering for the same or similar group when you become an actual doctor or other medical professional.

 

[emtp6811]

I good resource I have found for finding international volunteer opportunities is
http://www.imva.org. There are even places that offer to pay your way.

 

[*sunny*]

i found a mission trip through word of mouth. my suggestion is to tag along with small groups... easy find is any small church group. yes the words church and mission might be intimidated, but you have to remember that the majority of doctors don't see it as a religious experience... rather they are lending their medical expertice and happen to be traveling/part of a larger group.

also, i had to pay for airfare to/from india, but i could fundraise for the tickets if i felt like it. everything else was taken care of for the medical team. it was amazing.. i got to participate in 10 or more surgeries a day and was taught loads of stuff, including how to do several surgical procedures.

 

[112258]

youve also got to think about how important YOU are to the work abroad and make sure youre working with an ethical organization

i have read some questionable things about international service learning's tactics. a few of the programs at least work independent of country doctors. volunteer students fly in and fly out pretending to do medical work that should be reserved for real doctors. even if there arent real doctors in that place, international service learning should be getting real doctors to give the care, not students practicing their medical skills on the unknowing patients.

food for thought. dont be involved with an organization that isnt doing the best for communities and countries. work with organizations where you work side by side with the doctors. preferably those doctors are local country doctors because flying in doctors isnt sustainable for longterm change.

I did a trip with ISL and loved it. We weren't working alone, the problem is that there ARE NOT enough doctors around...i.e. the problem, and why medical mission trips exist.

The only thing the students "did" alone was meet with the patient and discuss amongst ourselves our theories. Then the patient and everyone meets with the doctor who oversees everything and agrees to the treatment plan or not.

I worked with local doctors who work there and work with ISL. You say flying in doctors isn't suitable for longterm change, yet you suggest students flying in to help (temporarily)? There aren't enough healthcare professionals in these countries. Until that happens, people need to help as much as they can, and if that involves flying in more doctors even temporarily, well that seems like the right thing to do.

 

[premeder]

flying in doctors or students or nurses or whomever to help the local doctors is what is needed. flying in for a week or two and then leaving helps a small number of people but it's a bandaid, not real change. what about when those same people need a doctor again 2 months later?

what the organizations really should be doing is working with the doctors in the country and medical schools or organizations to get doctors expanded to these regions. and then you fly in people to help with training. doctors can train the local docs. nurses can train local nurses. students help the doctors with what they need just like in hospitals or offices in the us. and then there is real change, not bandaids.

if more organizations did this type of sustainable work, there would be a lot less medical need.

but there will always be medical need. as long as organizations are ethical then there is a place for them.

i know about isl from their volunteers who posted on this board and explained some worrisome tactics. its good that at least some of their trips are responsibly working.

I did a trip with ISL and loved it. We weren't working alone, the problem is that there ARE NOT enough doctors around...i.e. the problem, and why medical mission trips exist.

The only thing the students "did" alone was meet with the patient and discuss amongst ourselves our theories. Then the patient and everyone meets with the doctor who oversees everything and agrees to the treatment plan or not.

I worked with local doctors who work there and work with ISL. You say flying in doctors isn't suitable for longterm change, yet you suggest students flying in to help (temporarily)? There aren't enough healthcare professionals in these countries. Until that happens, people need to help as much as they can, and if that involves flying in more doctors even temporarily, well that seems like the right thing to do.

 

[cerulean]

For anyone interested in Christian medical missions, I would highly recommend attending the Global Missions Health Conference (https://www.medicalmissions.com/home) in Louisville, Kentucky in the fall of each year. I went to it this year with med students from the Christian Medical Association of the med school associated with my undergrad university and it was a GREAT experience. I've heard that it's the largest medical missions conference in the US and it offers continuing education credit for physicians...thus, there's a massive amount of physicians there (instead of just being a conference packed with pre-meds).

Also, registration fees for this 2 day conference are only $35 for students, which includes boxed meals (like sandwiches). Host-housing is also available for free (they match you up with a host, usually a local resident) so housing is free (though we brought a present for our host just as a thank you, esp since we had ~12 people staying at one house).

The plenary speakers (large group) were quite inspiring and breakout sessions (smaller workshops) were great for learning more about specific subjects in detail.

And, though I'm typically not a fan of mega-churches, the conference is held in this amazingly huge church (I think it holds 7.000?) with it's own bookstore and coffeeshop.

It was a GREAT conference to attend (and very professionally organized), especially since they make it so accessible to students with the cheap registration fee, free host housing, and even an area just for students to hang out and talk (had free coffee and drinks and cookies). Also, they have a ton of exibitors come, most of which are missions agencies with info on short-term medical mission trip opportunities.

I'm really looking forward to Urbana (it's so soon, I can't wait!), but it's only held once every three years so the GMHC conference would be great for people to attend next year.

Note: both the GMHC conference and Urbana are explicitly Christian in nature. You don't have to be Christian to attend, but the conferences are designed to educate and motivate people about having their faith drive them to help people medically.

Merry Christmas (and happy holidays!)