Global Healthcare Experiences

In 2018, a group of medical school seniors were able to spend a month working with patients and staff in hospitals and clinics in Baraka and Kishon in the Narok South District of Kenya, through an elective in global health that supports international experience for Ohio State medical students. The five students were pleased to discover that the Baraka Hospital had become “a hub for medical services,” with a fully functioning laboratory, pharmacy, outpatient clinic area, maternal ward, antenatal care, an inpatient building and an operating theater.

Medical students rotate alongside primary healthcare providers, the first point of access into the healthcare system, at clinics, community health centers, and hospitals in the University town of Cordoba, the second largest city in Argentina. Ohio State students arranged this rotation through the Child and Family Health organization.

"We had a great time on this rotation and would strongly recommend it. The residents, attendings, and nurses were all very friendly and willing to answer any questions we had, and we were able to see a lot of pathologies that we did not often see at OSU."

Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital is a missionary hospital that treats the under-served. It is an approximately 350-bed hospital located in Manzini, Eswatini. Manzini has the second largest urban population in Eswatini. 

"I learned that when it comes to making patients feel comfortable enough to talk to me, I need to normalize what they’re going through. Something like HIV that is scary and serious is difficult for anyone to talk about, but it’s in my power to meet my patient halfway so they can receive the best treatment." Medical student: Gitanjali Das

Nkhoma Mission Hospital is a part of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Synod Health Department. The hospital serves over 71,000 people coming predominantly from the surrounding rural community.

"I am very grateful to Ohio State for giving me the opportunity to complete this global health elective in Malawi. It was not always comfortable. There were daily power outages, spiders, mosquitos, hospital tragedies, poverty, and hunger. But there was also learning, gratitude, camaraderie, optimism, and good patient outcomes. I will always remember this trip and will use these lessons in my future clinical practice." Med Student: Zac Hodosevich

Sichon Hospital was established in 1938. The mission of the hospital is to provide holistic primary care and develop comprehensive secondary care based on community problems and hospital resources.

"I like how this experience made me critically think though about how and why we do things certain ways. It allowed me to think about how I want to conduct caring for patients when I am an intern and eventually attending physician."Medical student: Kendyl Carlisle

Cho Ray Hospital is the premiere tertiary care center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s most populous city, which makes it a very large referral center for the city and surrounding region. It is also a very large teaching hospital and is responsible for educating both local and international medical students and post graduates.

"In general, my rotation in Vietnam gave me a glimpse into how medicine is practiced in a different country. All of my rotations so far have been in the US which has given me a narrow view into the practice of medicine. Seeing the differences in practice abroad has changed the way I see global health missions and experiences as a whole. In the future, I hope to be able to complete more rotations abroad to learn more things to bring back to my practice in the US."      Med Student: Christine