Volunteering Abroad

[adriano710]

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Playing with the idea to go to Honduras for a week during my Christmas break next year (my senior year) and help a local village on a medical school brigade put on by my school.

How helpful is it on a med school app to volunteer abroad? Would it be better to do just volunteer at my local hospital and add to my clinical hours in the ER or would going abroad show somewhat more dedication to my interest and want to be in medicine?

 

[AlteredScale]

Playing with the idea to go to Honduras for a week during my Christmas break next year (my senior year) and help a local village on a medical school brigade put on by my school.

How helpful is it on a med school app to volunteer abroad? Would it be better to do just volunteer at my local hospital and add to my clinical hours in the ER or would going abroad show somewhat more dedication to my interest and want to be in medicine?

What is your interest in pursuing this trip? Why do you want to go?

 

[adriano710]

What is your interest in pursuing this trip? Why do you want to go?

I want to spread my passion for helping people to as many as people as possible. I want to gain a new experience rather than just volunteering for the 100th time at my local hospital in ER. I want to help kids, seen as usually I'm helping older patients at the hospitals I have been volunteering at for the past two years.

 

[AlteredScale]

I want to spread my passion for helping people to as many as people as possible. I want to gain a new experience rather than just volunteering for the 100th time at my local hospital in ER. I want to help kids, seen as usually I'm helping older patients at the hospitals I have been volunteering at for the past two years.

And going abroad is truly the only way that you can accomplish this? Why not help kids at your home town through another volunteering organization? It doesn't always have to be "medically oriented".

What do you have a passion for? Is it global health?

Only asking because at the end of the day, if you do something you love it'll stand out more than checking off another box on your application for the sake of impressing admissions. They usually are not impressed with these medical missions trips. Not saying not to do it, but just think about what you really feel passionate for and see if you can do something with that!

 

[Indygirl7]

If you want to do it, it's a great experience and one that I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, it seems to be a pretty common thing on apps so not going to amaze the adcoms or anything. Go because you want to go, not to make adcoms happy.

 

[WalSlave]

I saved for months to go on a medical mission in Peru and it was really really worth it for me. I've done a lot of volunteering locally with children and want to align myself with a foundation so that I can volunteer internationally as a doctor (someday), so those were my reasons. Just make sure you research the foundation you will be volunteering for. I personally recommend a foundation like FIMRC that has a presence in the village already and who will really utilize you without making you do things you aren't really qualified to do.

 

[adriano710]

I saved for months to go on a medical mission in Peru and it was really really worth it for me. I've done a lot of volunteering locally with children and want to align myself with a foundation so that I can volunteer internationally as a doctor (someday), so those were my reasons. Just make sure you research the foundation you will be volunteering for. I personally recommend a foundation like FIMRC that has a presence in the village already and who will really utilize you without making you do things you aren't really qualified to do.

How long was your medical mission?

 

[WalSlave]

How long was your medical mission?

I was only there a couple weeks as that was all I could afford, haha. But I cannot wait to go back and spend a good month or two there.

 

[LP313]

I've also done a few missions with FIMRC and they've really got their program together. The Third World experience in El Salvador was much more rewarding than any clinical experience I've had in the states. I went back to the village for a few months after graduation with the FIMRC International Health Fellowship Program also. IMO you should definitely do it for the experience if nothing else.

 

[coolingglasses]

It's nice, but pretty common.

What you get out of it is almost entirely up to you. Always pause to consider the ethics of your actions when serving with international missions.

 

[keels99]

Playing with the idea to go to Honduras for a week during my Christmas break next year (my senior year) and help a local village on a medical school brigade put on by my school.

How helpful is it on a med school app to volunteer abroad? Would it be better to do just volunteer at my local hospital and add to my clinical hours in the ER or would going abroad show somewhat more dedication to my interest and want to be in medicine?

I think mentioning this would be great! Unique volunteer experiences make for great essays and interview topics. Also, you may not have a chance to travel abroad later. If it's something you really want to do, go for it.