International Service Learning: Experiential Medical Education

Send us Fan Mail You can be clinically prepared and still feel unprepared the moment you meet the need face to face. I’m Dr. Patrick “Dr. H” Hickey, and I sit down with Camila, an ICU nurse and case manager in Texas who took a faith-based medical mission trip to Kenya and came home with a completely reframed view of what nursing means. Camila shares how she entered nursing later in life after a pe...

Send us Fan Mail One week abroad can do what years of “checking the boxes” can’t: it can make medicine feel real. We sit down with Bryce, a University of South Carolina grad and paid cardiology medical scribe, to talk about the moment international service learning turned his curiosity about healthcare into a concrete vision for becoming a physician. Along the way, we unpack why scribing can be a...

Send us Fan Mail A blood pressure reading of 200/100. A patient who listens, nods, and still chooses not to go to the hospital because of faith. That single moment in Belize forces a bigger question than “What’s the right treatment?” It asks, “How do we care for people when culture, belief, and autonomy are part of the diagnosis?”  We sit down with Ava, a University of South Carolina grad in her g...

Send us Fan Mail Photos of service trips are everywhere. What’s missing is the part that changes you: the voice, the hesitation, the courage, and the why. At our six-month mark, I’m stepping back to reflect on what International Service Learning with Experiential Medical Education is really trying to do and what I’m hearing across dozens of global health stories. I share a bit about my own backgro...

Send us Fan Mail Watching medicine up close can change your plans fast, especially when you see it practiced in places that don’t have the safety net of big hospitals, endless imaging, and overflowing supplies. We sit down with Brice, a University of South Carolina grad and cardiology medical scribe, to unpack how mentorship and service learning turned his interest in medicine into a clear directi...

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 Dom...

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...

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 whi...

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 steppi...

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 sharp...

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,...

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 pa...

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...

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...

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 respo...

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 p...

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...

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 i...

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 o...

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...

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 th...

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...

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 donati...

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 a...

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 w...