Summer Medical Trip

[swim2md]

I'm looking for information on finding a medical mission trip to do this summer. My boyfriend and I would like to do one together, he will have just finished his 1st year and it will be the summer before my 1st year. If anyone has done something like this and knows of a good organization please post it here. Also, I know that the word mission typically refers to something religious-- it does not have to be anything associated with a religion, I just don't know what else to call it. Thanks.

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[UCSDSkippy]

World Baptist Missions is located in Honduras. You are not roughing it and you will live onsite of the hospital. Look at wbmonline.org. This is where I did a missions trip last year. It was great, clean water (you can drink the tap) and nice dorms. PM me with any questions.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

This is a group I plan to go to Peru with at some point (I was going to go in April, but unfortunately I have a scheduling conflict):

http://www.loveforperu.org/peru_med_dental.html

Dr. Meade, the medical director of the group is a great guy and an outstanding physician.

 

[112258]

I had a good experience with ISL:

http://www.islonline.org/

 

[pearlywhite]

I admit it, I'm lurking- but I did a great trip with MMI (http://www.mmint.org/) and they had both medical and dental volunteers and I know that the medical volunteers got to participate in surgery too, as well as in patient vitals and well check ups. Good luck!

 

[cakebaker2]

Hi swim2md. My pre-med advisor sent an e-mail about Unite for Sight's volunteer opportunities in Asia and Africa. Here's the link:

http://www.uniteforsight.org/intl_volunteer/

 

[DrMidlife]

Ditto on ISL. www.islonline.org. I've done Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Mexico and I'll do Nicaragua again in March.

 

[LatinGuitarrist]

How much money did you guys have to pay for this trips? What expenses are/were involved?

Ed

 

[DropkickMurphy]

How much money did you guys have to pay for this trips? What expenses are/were involved?

Ed

The Love for Peru team going in April per the last e-mail I received.....It is going to be around $1500 and I believe that covers everything (airfare, housing, etc).

 

[MirrorTodd]

That's some pretty sweet stuff. I have officially subscribed to this thread.

 

[LatinGuitarrist]

How much money did you guys have to pay for this trips? What expenses are/were involved?

Ed

Bump...

 

[sunnyjohn]

Good thread.

 

[em8r]

I went on one in 2005 for two weeks with the Center for International Service Learning to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. You really get to do a ton of stuff and gain experience: we traveled by bus to free clinics in urban and rural areas, and at each clinic we rotated between performing eye exams, dental exams, manning the "pharmacy" (which was really where we just set up the donated medications that we lugged around with us), and doing triage. you had to know a little spanish to interact with the patients that come in. It was all very well organized, and of course it was also fun to experience this with other students from around the country.
This organization has trips that go to various places also and do other things, like AIDS presentations in Tanzania and etc. It cost me 1700 for two weeks, although part of that was donated money from my church.
Anyway, definitely do something like this at least once! Whenever I get buried in too deep in my studies and wondering why I put myself through this work, I remember experiences like this and it keeps me motivated

 

[plutonium]

subscribe.

 

[premeder]

youve all 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.

 

[Ziggy08]

youve all 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,

I'll be doing the Unite for Sight program in Tamale, Ghana this summer (first time ever). Do you know which trip you're going to be on? I'd really like to know more about their trips, particularly in Ghana. If you've been there with them, could you please send me a pm? Thanks

 

[premeder]

hey alisa

youre going to have the time of your life in tamale

i havent decided where im going this summer but prolly tamale too! the ophthalmologist there is dr wanye. he comes to unite for sight conferences and i met him last year. he is the quintessetial kindest type of doctor. i just loved talking to him. thats why i'll probably do tamale this summer just so i can work with him. all the unite for sight affiliated docs are awesome.

have you read the volunteer manual? they give you a manual for whatever location you go to. the link is in the email they send you when you get accepted. i read it for tamale and i think it really explains the daily life of a volunteer. i havent been to tamale but i did another ghana program. all of the unite for sight programs are the same and different from each other in different ways, like working in a hospital in LA is the same and different from a hospital in TX.

pm me if you want more details. and unite for sight gets you introduced with past volunteers to your program closer to when you go but you could ask them to get in touch with past volunteers to tamale right now.

if you were accepted already then you get the unite for sight newsletter. there were some articles in the newsletter recently about tamale. if you didnt see these already http://uniteforsight.org/news/tamalevision2020.php
http://uniteforsight.org/news/humanitarianactiontamale.php

 

[premeder]

hey here is something else youll like if you didnt see it already
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-424538484738181565&hl=en

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

 

[premeder]

hey
this is my favorite conference. its a must do for anyone with any interest in medical trips. look at the conference speaker list...300 speakers
lots and lots of returned unite for sight volunteers are speakers too


Please Forward Widely
Early Bird Rate Increases After January 20th

GLOBAL HEALTH & INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE: Innovation, Advancement, and Best Practices to Achieve Global Goals
Unite For Sight Fourth Annual International Health Conference
April 14-15, 2007 at Stanford University School of Medicine, California
http://www.uniteforsight.org/conference/2007/

More Than 300 Renowned Speakers from North America, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe
Join over 1,500 leaders, doctors, professionals, and students from 5 continents for an engaging exchange of ideas and best practices.
When: April 14-15, 2007
Where: Stanford University School of Medicine, California, USA
Who should attend?Anyone interested in eye care, international health, medicine, health education, health promotion, public health, international service, social entrepreneurship, nonprofits, or microenterprise
EARLY BIRD RATE INCREASES AFTER JANUARY 20: Current Rate is $65 Students/$85 All Others

COMPLETE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE WITH 300 SPEAKERS: http://uniteforsight.org/conference/2007/index.php

SPEAKER HIGHLIGHTS (20 OF THE 300 SPEAKERS) INCLUDE:
--"Millennium Development Goals, Partnerships, and Eye Care (By Prepared Videotape)", JEFFREY SACHS, PhD, Director, Earth Institute at Columbia University; Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development; Professor of Health Policy and Management

--"Challenges in Public Health: From Smallpox and Polio Eradication to SARS and Avian Influenza", DAVID HEYMANN, MD, MPH, Former Executive Director for Communicable Diseases, World Health Organization

--"Public Private Partnerships to Advance Technologies for Neglected Disease", CHRISTOPHER ELIAS, MD, MPH, President of PATH

--"The Right to Health: Towards Social Inclusion and Universal Health Care in Latin America", ARACHU CASTRO, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Social Medicine, Academic Director; Program in Infectious Disease and Social Change, Harvard Medical School / Partners in Heath

--"The War on AIDS - Integration Equals Impact", GEORGE GUIMARAES, President and CEO, Project Concern International

--"Critical Health Issues in the 21st Century", SUSAN BLUMENTHAL, MD, MPA, Former US Assistant Surgeon General, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown School of Medicine and Tufts University Medical Center

--"The Neglected Tropical Diseases: New Promise For Their Control", PETER HOTEZ, MD, PhD, Professor and Chairman, Department of Microbiology and Tropical Medicine, The George Washington University

--"Microfinance and Health: New Synergies and Opportunities", ALEX COUNTS, President, Grameen Foundation USA

--"Public Private Partnerships to Provide Safe Drinking Water in Africa", GREG ALLGOOD, PhD, Director, Children's Safe Drinking Water, Procter & Gamble

--"Antiretroviral Drugs and Issues of Drug Access and Quality in the Developing World", TERRY BLASCHKE, MD, Professor of Medicine and Molecular Pharmacology, Stanford University

--"Technology Social Entrepreneurship", JIM FRUCHTERMAN, Chairman and Founder, The Benetech Initiative

--"International Women's Health and Human Rights", ANNE FIRTH MURRAY, Founding President, The Global Fund for Women; Consulting Professor, Human Biology Program, Stanford University

--"High Quality Eye Care To The Most Marginalized Populations: The Challenges and Possible Solutions", GULLAPALLI N. RAO, MD, Chairman, Board of Trustees and President, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness; Distinguished Chair of Eye Health, L.V. Prasad Eye Institute

--"Impossible Dreams - The First Ascent of the East Face of Mt. Everest and Eradicating Blindness in Mountainous Asia", GEOFFREY TABIN, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences; Director of the Division of International Ophthalmology, John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah; Co-Director and Founder, Himalayan Cataract Project

--"Eye Care at Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana", JAMES CLARKE., MD, Ophthalmologist and Medical Director, Crystal Eye Clinic, Ghana

--"Global Progress in Preventing the Burden of Blindness and Other Diseases Caused by Measles and Rubella", STEPHEN L. COCHI, MD, MPH, Senior Advisor, Global Immunization Division, National Immunization Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

--"Is Women's Health a Human Right?", MINI MURTHY, MD, MPH, MS, Assistant Professor of Practice,New York Medical College School of Public Health

--"Young Leaders In Action: Tomorrow's Leaders But Also Today's", WILLIAM REESE, President and CEO, International Youth Foundation

--"Community Programs With Vision", DAVID WERNER, PhD, Co-Founder, Director of HealthWrights (Workgroup for People's Health and Rights); Visiting Professor at Boston University International School of Public Health; Author, "Where There Is No Doctor"

--"Medical Discovery and Social Justice: Linking Child Health with Child Rights", PAUL WISE, MD, MPH, Richard E. Berhman Professor of Child Health and Society, Stanford University

Hundreds of Conference Sessions For Anyone Interested In:
*Global Health
*International Development
*Millennium Development Goals
*Public Health
*Overseas Volunteering
*Health and Human Rights
*Refugee Health
*Women's Health
*HIV/AIDS
*Infectious Disease
*Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship
*Nonprofits
*Health in Africa
*Health in Asia
*Health in Latin America
*Global Eye Care and Vision 2020
*Glaucoma Symposium

 

[bigDee]

The unite for site looks really interesting. It also looks hard to get into.

 

[premeder]

The unite for site looks really interesting. It also looks hard to get into.

dont sell yourself short. if youre premed then youre ambitious and you believe in yourself. im really sure that its easier to get into unite for sight than it is to get into med school.hehe

one thing though is that its rolling admission. that means that if you apply now six months in advance, you have a much higher chance of getting accepted then if you apply two months in advance when there might be 0 or 1 slots left.

i know they look carefully at your application so make sure you write thoughtful answers. and they also look at your recommendation so make sure your recommender knows you well and likes you. sound familiar? advice for any application is really the same.

if youre a genuine person who shows comitment to volunteering, service, and learning, you have a really good chance of getting accepted. your gpa doesnt matter. your personal character is what matters.

 

[bigDee]

This is just what I was looking for. Thanks and I will definitely give you an update if I get accepted.

Another question. The travel expenses must be pretty expensive yes?

 

[premeder]

well you can save on travel costs by booking your flights early

http://www.northamericanair.com/ is cheapest to ghana its dirt cheap. less than $800 one way. its a direct flight so no waiting around in european airports. its a good service. i flew that airline to ghana last time i went too.

 

[mintendo]

hey here is something else youll like if you didnt see it already
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-424538484738181565&hl=en

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

Watching that video makes me want to become an ophthamalogist.

 

[premeder]

yeah it gets you hooked. personally meeting the people and spending everyday with the unite for sight docs is even better

Watching that video makes me want to become an ophthamalogist.

 

[blue129]

these programs look awesome, way more involved than previous hospital/clinic volunteering gigs I've had and a great opportunity for me to improve my Spanish outside of the classroom. Just a question...
To apply to these programs, would it be appropriate to submit an LOR from a professor? It would mostly be about my academic work, and the professors I'm thinking of would be very positive about me as a student (in legal studies or chem...), but they only know me as a student. Another option for me is my research PI--again, probably not directly applicable to the qualities sought after in undergrad applicants to these programs.

This past semester has been academically tough (meaning, I've been studying all the time, and too neurotic to be substantially involved in any community org ). I definitely will be involved in some kind of volunteering this semester--should I wait until the end of the semester to apply to a summer medical trip that goes in August? Should I ask previous organizations I've volunteered with (a year ago) for recs? Should I chill out and wait to go next year?

What do you guys think?

 

[premeder]

my professor submitted my letter of recommendation. i think most people have professors give in letters. i always thought of the application as comparable to other applications like college and med schoool.

i wouldnt worry too much about who writes it as long as the person knows you and isnt your friend or mom.

these programs look awesome, way more involved than previous hospital/clinic volunteering gigs I've had and a great opportunity for me to improve my Spanish outside of the classroom. Just a question...
To apply to these programs, would it be appropriate to submit an LOR from a professor? It would mostly be about my academic work, and the professors I'm thinking of would be very positive about me as a student (in legal studies or chem...), but they only know me as a student. Another option for me is my research PI--again, probably not directly applicable to the qualities sought after in undergrad applicants to these programs.

This past semester has been academically tough (meaning, I've been studying all the time, and too neurotic to be substantially involved in any community org ). I definitely will be involved in some kind of volunteering this semester--should I wait until the end of the semester to apply to a summer medical trip that goes in August? Should I ask previous organizations I've volunteered with (a year ago) for recs? Should I chill out and wait to go next year?

What do you guys think?

 

[Jack Swift]

These trips look very interesting but how selective are these programs? I have a feeling that if I apply some dingus premed who was president of 3 clubs and has 6 publications will sweep in and take my spot

 

[premeder]

hey jack swift

all i can do is speak for unite for sight the org ive done twice. look at the application. it doesnt ask anything about publications. you have to write short essay questions so the org can understand your motivations and personal qualities. i dont think they care if you have publications or lead clubs. being a president of a club doesnt relate to your commitment to international service.

one thing though is that its rolling admission. that means that if you apply now six months in advance, you have a much higher chance of getting accepted then if you apply two months in advance when there might be 0 or 1 slots left.

i know they look carefully at your application so make sure you write thoughtful answers. and they also look at your recommendation so make sure your recommender knows you well and likes you. sound familiar? advice for any application is really the same.

if youre a genuine person who shows comitment to volunteering, service, and learning, you have a really good chance of getting accepted. your gpa doesnt matter. your personal character is what matters.

the same probably applies to other orgs too.

 

[sunnyjohn]

bumping so I can find it.