Global Health Electives
A good physician needs to have a world view in this age when cultural diversity is the norm.
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine students have a chance to expand the depth and breadth of their education through serving and learning in an international setting as part of their phase 3 electives.
Students can choose from among established partnerships with hospitals and medical education programs in Costa Rica, India, Nepal, Poland, South Korea, and Taiwan.
[Nathan Zinman - Trujillo, Peru]: Going down to latin america, to a country I had never done before, was really a big goal of mine and it was amazing.
[Sahal Thahir - St. Lo, France]: One thing it helped do, especially towards the end of my medical school career here at VTC, was it helped tie everything together. It helped me see that the skills that I have will be universal to helping people throughout the world.
[Nathan]: Going to a place where I can be fully immersed, practice my skills, and really continue to grow in a professional manner. There's nothing you can learn from a book what that life is like, what access to healthcare is like, and how that might play a role in the care that I hope to give, and the sensitivity of that type of care. Similar to what we learn here at VTC about how you want to be with your patients, talk to them sensitively, and really approach issues in an appropriate way.
[David Trinkle - Associate Dean of Community and Culture]: We knew as a new school, 10-12 years ago, as we were developing the curriculum, that global health - then and now - lines up with our mission of graduating physician thought leaders, and really broadens our students' horizons into health disparities, into health systems sciences and learning how different systems work, and ultimately in caring for different populations and in different cultures.
[Sahal]: It has helped me see the commonalities throughout the world, across languages. There are certain things you have to embody as a physician regardless of what language it is. You have to be able to show empathy, you have to be able to show confidence as well.
[David]: We've tried to find programs that are impactful on the experience side but also where we have formed relationships and hopefully have free board, maybe food, and lots of connections so people take care of our students.
[Nathan]: Living with a Peruvian family was awesome. It was an older couple in their sixties, they had a son about my age who came and visited every once in a while. But that is where the cultural competency component point comes in. Living in an AirBnB or a hotel, you're more of a spectator but living within a family unit was amazing.
[Nathan]: My international rotation in Peru was not funded. And that did make it difficult for me, and a much more difficult decision for myself and some other classmates that were considering going.
[David]: Unfortunately we learned that many students had canceled their global program even though they really wanted to go, just a month or two beforehand, because they are out of money. They've been interviewing all fall and they just don't have the funds.
[David]: We have done it without scholarships, and we've now had the luxury of a few years of having scholarships and we know the difference. And the numbers will go down without the scholarships, and we think that's a shame because again, this an impactful program and it's one of the last chances that future physicians will have to participate in a global health elective.
[Sahal]: I think of all the things I have done in the fourth year, this one was the most eye opening for me, and is something I think will last longest throughout my medical career in terms of the impact it had.
[Nathan]: It was an incredible experience. It's one of the best things I decided to do during my fourth year here at VTC.
[Sahal]: This helped me build a better world view and I think that's something that's really importent to me, and will help me in the long run for years to come in my career.
[Nathan]: It is one of the best things that I can do and is going to change the way that I practice going forward.
- Sahal Thahir went on to study Pediatrics at UNC Chapel Hill
- Nathan Zinman went on to study Internal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine
“Each location is a unique opportunity,” said Dr. David Trinkle, associate dean for community engagement. “Students will be exposed to differences in healthcare delivery, communication protocols, working as part of a healthcare team, and the availability of resources. These are practical and enriching experiences that they can take into their clinical practice.”
Some global health electives were placed in locations that had long standing relationships with our area through the Roanoke Valley Sister Cities program.