Claim OwnershipInternational Service Learning: Experiential Medical Education
Subscribed: 0Played: 1
Subscribe
© 2026 International Service Learning: Experiential Medical Education
Description
This podcast will highlight the values of international service learning study abroad trips taken by healthcare focused faculty and students. Guests will include healthcare focused students and faculty, from high school to university, that have had an opportunity to participate in an international service-learning trip, as well as healthcare professionals that have served abroad. Additionally, we will have guests that are industry leaders in healthcare, education, study abroad, spirituality, and service as well as those living in the countries being served. Through our "passionate conversations about healthcare experiences", both internationally and locally, we hope to motivate and inspire others to consider participating in an international service-learning trip ... which might lead to a future career in healthcare.
26 Episodes
Reverse
Send us Fan Mail A patient waits weeks with a worsening cough, trying herbal tea because a clinic is hard to reach and a hospital visit can cost an entire day of work. That single reality drives so much of what we explore with Leah, a University of South Carolina neuroscience grad and future DO student who’s served on international medical mission trips in Honduras, Costa Rica, Belize, and the Dominican Republic. Her stories aren’t highlight reels. They’re a clear look at what healthcare acce...
Send us Fan Mail A four-hour drive should not be the difference between a routine fix and a life-altering outcome, but in many places it is. We sit down with Austin, a graduating medical student about to start internal medicine residency, to talk through the moments that made global health feel real: the patients you cannot “just transfer,” the family decisions shaped by cost and distance, and the quiet skills that matter when resources are limited. Austin walks us through his training...
Send us Fan Mail Want to help without harming? We sit down with Dr. Patrick Hickey—nurse, educator, author, and veteran leader in international service learning—to map the real work behind ethical global health volunteering. From the first country risk check to the last clinic debrief, we unpack how preparation, cultural humility, and clinical guardrails protect both communities and volunteers while creating powerful growth for early‑career clinicians. We start where most trips should: asses...
Send us Fan Mail You can feel the moment a clinician realizes the test they want simply doesn’t exist. That’s where our conversation with Rafik goes, and it’s why his reflections on Belize stay with us long after the trip ends. We sit down with Rafik, a fourth-year medical student fresh off Match Day, to talk about choosing internal medicine, navigating the residency match process, and then stepping into a very different kind of classroom: an international service learning clinic in Belize. ...
Send us Fan Mail A blood pressure of 200 over 100. A patient who listens, then calmly says he’s fine and leaves. Moments like that force you to wrestle with the part of medicine no textbook can solve: culture, faith, autonomy, and what it really means to help. We sit down with Ava, a University of South Carolina grad on her gap year, to talk about how international service learning in Belize sharpened her clinical mindset and changed what she values in patient care. We start with the p...
Send us Fan Mail Belize looks like paradise until you step into a clinic where “limited resources” isn’t a concept, it’s the daily operating reality. Dr. Patrick Hickey sits down with Lauren, a recent University of South Carolina grad on the pre-med track, to unpack what she learned on a 10-day international service learning trip that blended global health, hands-on experiential medical education, and honest reflection. We talk through what her days actually looked like: splitting into clini...
Send us Fan Mail You can learn the steps of medicine from a book, but you learn the weight of medicine when you sit across from a patient and have to earn trust fast. We’re joined by Gabby G, a fourth-year medical student at the University of South Carolina who just matched into general surgery, to talk about how international service learning helped shape her clinical confidence and her career path. We trace Gabby’s journey through service learning medical mission trips to Guatemala, includ...
Send us Fan Mail The fastest way to understand dentistry isn’t another lecture, it’s sitting chairside in a real clinic where the tools are limited, the need is high, and you have to earn trust before you can help. We’re joined by Nikki, a University of South Carolina pre-dental student, as she reflects on international service learning across the Dominican Republic and Puerto Peñasco, Mexico and what changed when she returned as a student leader. We talk through the real mechanics of a dent...
Send us Fan Mail You can prepare for the clinical work, pack the supplies, and review the protocols and still feel completely unprepared for what poverty looks like up close. That’s what makes Camila’s story stick. She’s an ICU bedside nurse and case manager in Texas, originally from São Paulo, Brazil, who became a nurse at 40 after learning English as an adult. She joins us to talk about a Kenya medical mission trip with 410 Bridge that becomes one of the most meaningful experiences of her n...
Send us Fan Mail A stranger’s LinkedIn message turned into a story we can’t stop thinking about. Anna, a 23-year-old medical sales representatives, packed her bags for Honduras and traded the OR sidelines for a week of hard, heart-forward work—turning a church into a clinic, running a pop-up pharmacy, and watching passion beat limited resources at every turn. We walk through the anatomy of a responsible short-term mission: iPad intake that keeps patient data organized, a pharmacy line that n...
Send us Fan Mail Curiosity is a muscle, and global learning is the workout. We sit down with Emory University’s Associate Director of Global Engagement, Natalie Cruz, to explore how students, faculty, and institutions can move beyond stamp-collecting travel toward programs that are ethical, safe, and genuinely transformative. From free passport initiatives and data-driven global maps to research partnerships and virtual exchanges, we trace practical ways to open doors for first-time travelers...
Send us Fan Mail This is a unique podcast as I have interviewed a student prior to her first service-learning trip ... and at 22:30 the interview continues 5 weeks later post-trip! Curiosity meets courage when a sophomore pre-dental student takes her skills abroad and finds out what care means without the usual comforts. We sit down with Sydney from the University of South Carolina to capture her mindset before a week in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, and the lessons she brings home after assisting ...
Send us Fan Mail A fast-track pharmacy degree, night shifts in critical care, and a formative service trip to Costa Rica—Helen Knoche's story is a blueprint for purpose-driven practice. We sit down to trace how a love of chemistry evolved into a role where timing, teamwork, and clear communication decide outcomes, and how a week in La Carpio taught lessons that still save time and suffering in a North Carolina ICU. Helen opens up about the realities of pharmacy school—heavy on medicinal chem...
Send us Fan Mail What if the most important tool you carry into a community isn’t a stethoscope or a syllabus, but a few words in the local language and a willingness to listen? That question threads through our conversation with Chrissie Faupel—Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) and Director of International Affairs at the University of Minnesota Duluth—who shares a candid, field-tested view of international service learning and study abroad. Chrissie takes us inside her two years in Sen...
Send us Fan Mail Nurses save lives—and that simple truth reshaped Dr. Patrick “Dr. H” Hickey’s destiny five decades ago. Our conversation with Dr. H blends grit, humor, and deep professional insight to help you decide whether nursing is your calling and how to build a career that endures. We talk frankly about why motives matter, how to manage the emotional load of patient care, and what it takes to stand out when everyone has a strong GPA but little real-world experience. We unpack nursing ...
Send us Fan Mail What if a single week abroad could change the way you practice medicine for life? We sit down with Naimick Patel to follow his journey from curious freshman to student leader to oncology clinical research coordinator, connecting vivid field experiences in Nicaragua and Guatemala with the everyday realities of patient communication and clinical trials in the United States. Along the way, we unpack the habits that build trust fast—greeting patients in their language, sitting at...
Send us Fan Mail What if one week abroad could reset your definition of impact? We sit down with Olivia Albanese Gordon to map the winding road from pre‑med requirements and ER shadowing to trip leadership in Nicaragua, an MPH from Johns Hopkins, and a mission‑driven role directing public health programs for families navigating epilepsy, autism, and intellectual and developmental disabilities. The arc isn’t linear, and that’s the point: service learning didn’t just add a line to her resume, i...
Send us Fan Mail A phone call with an acceptance to medical school. A night flight to a donor hospital. A child’s rash spotted during a game and treated just before the bus pulled away. This is how Shelby’s winding path—public health, Teach for America, transplant logistics, and a formative trip to Nicaragua—built the mindset and skill set of a future physician. We open the curtain on organ donation and transplant coordination: what an OPO does, how multiple surgical teams align in unfamilia...
Send us Fan Mail A few weeks in unfamiliar clinics can change a career. Emma joins us to share how three undergraduate service trips—Belize, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua—steered her toward osteopathic medicine, shaped her values in family practice, and sharpened the tools she uses daily with patients and students. We compare the realities of MD and DO training in the United States, spotlighting the additional musculoskeletal and osteopathic manipulative treatment skills that drew her to a more h...
Send us Fan Mail What if the most important clinical tool isn’t in your pocket but in your posture toward people? We sit down with Dr. Katie Lucas, an OBGYN whose career was shaped by service learning in Belize and Nicaragua, and follow the throughline from open‑air clinics to private practice. Katie shares how she chose her specialty for its blend of surgery, continuity, and problem‑solving—and why true teamwork and strong mentors matter as much as any textbook. We dive into language as cli...
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States