Build a Medical Career by Serving Abroad (Original Release 5/26)

Send us Fan Mail (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2534345/fa...) 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 high-value clinical experience for pre-med students, from learning Epic and medical documentation to seeing how trust is built over long-term follow-ups. Bryce walks us through two global health service trips, starting with Costa Rica and then a gap year trip to Belize that adds hospital rotations on top of community clinics. He shares the patient encounters that stay with him, including what it feels like to see cerebral palsy managed far from major hospitals and how much low-resource teams can accomplish with limited equipment. We also get into mentorship as the real engine of growth: physicians who teach, medical students who guide, and the “pay it forward” mindset that can shape an entire medical career. Then we look ahead. Bryce is now leading a two-week Tanzania experience built for gap year students who want meaningful hospital exposure in specialties like surgery, orthopedics, emergency medicine, pediatrics, and general medicine, plus cultural activities and optional excursions. If you care about global health, medical mission trips, underserved communities, or building clinical confidence before med school, this conversation offers a clear, honest roadmap. Subscribe, share this with a friend considering a gap year, and leave a review with one question you want answered about serving abroad. I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to "share the voices of international service" with you!  As a 50+ year nurse that has worked in quite a variety of clinical roles in our healthcare system, taught healthcare courses for the past 20 years at the university level, and has traveled extensively with students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that it is the hands-on experiential experiences that are most meaningful in life! I hope that by hearing these voices you too can become involved in service, whether it be locally, nationally, or internatioally.  Feel free to check out our website at www.internationalservicelearning.org, follow us on Instagram @islmedical, or send me an email at                                      [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) if you wasnt to learn more about international opportunities for yourself, your school, your church, or any other cohort!