Medical Mission Trip : Lusaka, Zambia

This summer, I traveled to Nanning, China and worked as a non-medical volunteer with Operation Smile whose mission is to provide free cleft lip repair surgery to unprivileged kids. I was assigned to interview and collect each kid’s story. As I positioned myself as my interviewees' friend and did not judge their stories(every possibility of life deserves respect!), they began opening up themselves to me. During the interview, I was moved by the respect and genuineness I both paid to and received from the interviewees, and I deeply understood the purpose of this trip was not to treat but to

A Heart for the Work: Journeys Through an African Medical School by Claire L. Wendland is both an first hand account of time spent in an African medical school and hospital as well as a critique on Western medical practices. Dr. Wendland, an accomplished anthropologist and physician, provides a first hand account of her time in a Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world. Through this account she provides insight into the complete journey a student must take to become a doctor in conditions much different than our own. These insights and research are used to argue that medicine, or biomedicine as it is called, is part of a cultural system and is predicated on the cultural ideals and resources of developed nations. Wendland uses the differences in moral order, technology, and resources between the Malawian culture and our own culture to provide evidence for her main argument.

“Death is everywhere,” were my counterpart’s wife’s response after I told her how a young woman whom I saw getting sick the day before on the market bus has died. Her words wasn’t a complain but simply a statement, an acceptance of life as it is in West Africa. People get sick, sometime they make it and sometime they don’t. Sometime even the healthy died. There is no discrimination between children and adults or men and women. Such was just a glib in our afternoon conversation, but accurately represented my Peace Corps experience — a collection of ephemeral moments that leave permanent and irreplaceable impression serving as the inspiration to my pursuit of a career in public health development, and for less death and more living. So even though it has been a while since I left Ghana, the perpetual sunny days of Ghana has not left me. Thoughts about my friends, my community, their development needs, their health issues and the potential life saving solution continue to circulate my mind as if I was still living in the midst of it all.

I am originally from Togo, West Africa, and I moved to the United States of America about six (06) years ago to live with my parent. My country has a storage of several things such as the healthcare system, stable hospitals with experienced doctors and nurses, new technologies, and etc. In Africa, there are not enough medical equipment or modern technology to save lives. Hospitals are alienated by people who need them the most, and if people manage to go to the hospital, they do not have the money to pay the hospital bills. In addition, sometimes they have serious diseases that doctors cannot find a cure for. Ultimately, many people lose their lives every day to diseases that are not yet known, for instance, Ebola disease outrage. Healthcare is one of Africa’s biggest problems beside food crisis reason why I am engaging in medical studies, starting with a BSN degree at Clarkson College. If time allows, I will possibly pursue further studies in the field. Maybe someday, I will provide better training to my native country healthcare staff with my competence. I can probably assist them with new medical technology as well if my finances allow me.

“Amazima provides physicals, HIV testing and counseling, basic hygiene education, malaria prevention, malnutrition rehabilitation, and medical financial assistance for many individuals.” Amazima opened numerous clinics for the residents of Uganda. These clinics provide basic medical care and work together in teaching the people in the area how to care for themselves. Numerous diseases are rearing in Uganda and with these clinics, the number of sick people has diminished greatly. Even though the clinics are not able to treat very serious medical issues, they do refer them to larger hospitals who can meet their needs and give them the medical attention they require. Through these clinics the team of doctors and nurses are able to offer love and hope to people who have never been shown such kindness. Not only do they cure them, but they also leave a positive life changing impact on each person’s life that they are able to treat (“Medical

Volunteering there has helped improve my confidence and leadership skills as I had to be an authoritative figure and role model for those in my care. Helping thirty children complete their tasks also helped develop my ability to manage the time and ensure they were finished ready for the next task. Another experience that convinced me of my desire to care for individuals was the two-week expedition to Kenya I embarked on. Whilst in Kenya I helped the community of West Pokot by painting schools, sanding and varnishing desks, sewing curtains for students' dormitories and practicing English with young students. The expedition exposed me to the different cultures of the world and medical problems, such as starvation and blindness, that are predominant in countries requiring aid.

I found this article helpful as it reflected the view of an aspiring medical student that reviewed the actual 3-day experience she had in this particular medical mission. I am not sure if the mission was done at the capital itself (Tegucigalpa) or some rural area as it mentioned traveling on the road for hours.

Growing up in a third-world country, Cambodia gave me a real life view of a community with limited access to healthcare services, and that resulted in poor health outcomes. When I was two years old, my family suffered a great loss. My mother suffered from a disease and that caused her to be extremely weak. In spite of all efforts to save her, using what available funds we had, she still passed away. I will never know her true cause of illness as my father only vaguely explained the circumstances of the death to me. Losing her was devastating. This and other experiences helped me recognize the importance people placed in healthcare.

Everyone needs health care, from the mountains of Colorado to the jungles of Liberia. Therefore, it is hard to argue that the medical community is not one of the most essential in our society. However, many people go to their doctor’s office and either complain about the paperwork, the wait, or how the staff treated them. The medical culture is paramount to our society because it serves our community by maintaining human health, analyzes health trends, deals with insurance companies and even aids low income individuals to get the proper care they require to live a healthy life.

I was born in Ghana, West Africa, where I had my education through to graduating with my first Bachelor’s degree in Economics/ Geography from University of Cape Coast. As a requirement for new university graduates in Ghana, I served the Ghana Government for one year at the Ghana National Commission on Children where my encounter with children living in deprived communities helped me appreciate basic life essentials I took for granted, like easy access to water or not walking two miles to go to school. Before becoming a nurse I lost a friend to sepsis which made me do more research on the disease and enabled me to choose this career.

The clinical rotations will allow me to shadow doctors in various settings, ranging from surgery and neonatal units at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s teaching hospital to a parochial hospital founded by Trappist monks to a non-profit HIV clinic. What I would learn and see from one month in South Africa would be more than what I could hope to learn from a year-long internship in America. My study abroad will be instrumental to my professional goals as it will allow me to better understand the context of the socio-economic factors underlying challenges in South Africa’s health care system. By furthering the depth of my knowledge, I will be instrumentally effective in catering a future solution towards quality health care and becoming a well-rounded health care

To comprehend what a medical career will involve, I shadowed a doctor for 2 weeks in Ethiopia, witnessing a range of cases. From the patient interaction I learned that it is key to maintain effective communication during the encounter as it prompts the further advancement of the patient clarifying their issues. It struck me when I saw how medical cases contrasted between patients, and realized the extent to which doctors need to apply their knowledge when diagnosing conditions. A visit

Ever since I was 10 years old I’ve always been passionate about making a powerful impact in my community. Growing up in port-au-prince Haiti I’ve seen various things I wish I could change. Such as; the grey, smoky climate. Piles of filthy garbage on the streets, the homeless desperate to earn a coin. But one thing that pierced my heart the most are the unhealthy children's without shelter screaming for medical attention, begging for a chance to survive. But have no one opened their heart to help. So I️ promised myself that one day I’m going to take action and work in the field of medicine so I could provide unlimited free health care to anybody who needs it especially the children.

Sunny days were filled with tropical weather adventures and blissful curiosity that was satisfied through exploration. As a child growing up in Haiti, there were plenty of chances to interact within a diverse culture and these experiences in my early years, helped to mold and shape my optimistic outlook on the future. Growing up in a disadvantaged community where tough times exist, it would be easy to become discouraged, but with a closer look I soon realized that tougher people exist there too. The caring heart and resilient characteristic that I exude serve as testament to the values that came out of my early life experiences. I intend to use these qualities to propel me to the realization of my dream, which is practicing Osteopathic Medicine

Especially in times of medical crisis like we saw during the Ebola outbreak earlier this year, I would like to join teams in these developing area to provide education and medical services to their communities as well. There is always a need for trained medical professionals in these areas which I think is crucial to not only help with educate the populations on sanitation, sexual transmitted diseases, and nutrition. Not only is education important, but also working with these governments to ensure that proper funds are allotted to health care is vital to keep their populations healthy and self-sustaining, and I would like to work with the governments to do