As a 4th year medical student at Ohio State University we have the opportunity to spend 4 weeks completing a global health elective. With a MPH degree in Global Health I knew ahead of time that I wanted to travel abroad. After hearing about the experience with Tiritose Sustainable Travel through a colleague of mine (Necrisha Roach), I knew spending my time in Zimbabwe with Tiritose Sustainable Travel was where I wanted to be for my 4-week rotation 2017.
From a medical standpoint, one of my objectives for volunteering abroad as a medical student is to learn more about the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in Zimbabwe such as HIV, TB, and malnutrition. Through this experience I would like to assess patients with the physicians, complete physical exams, and discuss the assessment and plans. I also want to witness and understand the similarities and differences in practice between the private and public clinical settings and have a better understanding of Zimbabwe’s health care delivery system. It will be an amazing experience to interact with various physicians who are leaders in global health medicine as this is something I would like to pursue in my future career. Furthermore it is really important to learn about the culture in Zimbabwe and understand how that influences the practice of medicine.
From a social standpoint, I really want to immerse myself in Zimbabwe. This will be my first trip to Africa and I am beyond excited for what is to come. I want to learn more about the culture, the music, the language, and enjoy the food. I am told that Zimbabwe has a very friendly community so I am looking forward to getting to know the people. I am so excited to travel within the country and visit the beautiful sites and make the trip to Victoria Falls. These four weeks are going to take me out of my natural habitat and environment and I am so excited for this journey.
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For more medical student volunteering abroad opportunities, get in touch with the team at Tiritose Sustainable Travel in Zimbabwe.
