International Health Programs and Initiatives
Central and South America
Amigos de las Americas
Locations: Throughout Latin America
Participation: undergraduates, graduates, or medical students.
Amigos de las Americas is an international non-profit organization that has 40 years of experience in facilitating community development programs. Working in collaboration with development agencies and community members, volunteers have leadership roles in carrying out health, education, and environmental programs, ranging from latrine construction to formation of youth groups to teaching HIV prevention and dental hygiene.
Child Family Health International (CFHI)
Evaleen Jones, MD, MPH; Founder and Medical Director, CFHI;
Clinical Assistant Professor, Stanford Family and Community Medicine
Location: Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Nicaragua, South Africa
Times: summer, fall, winter, spring
Participation: undergraduates, medical students, residents, and health professionals
Child Family Health International’s (CFHI) Global Health Service-Learning Programs combine instruction, experience, service, and reflection to create a model that supports physicians and clinical sites abroad, addresses the healthcare needs of the underserved, and adds an unforgettable experiential element to each program participant’s education.
CFHI programs bring service-learning into hospitals and clinics around the world, allowing participants to gain insight on the contextual constructs of illness and healing in foreign settings. Program Alumni return from the host country with new perspectives on healthcare systems and delivery in places where resources and supplies are extremely limited.
Clerkship in International Health - Guatemala
Paul Wise, MD, MPH; Professor of Pediatrics
Locations: Guatemala
Participation: medical students
Dr. Paul Wise directs a clerkship and early clinical experience program in international community health in the town of San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala. The clerkship couples direct clinical experience with a broader exposure to the social determinants of health and the provision of medical care in resource-poor areas of the world. Students work in a small hospital and in mobile clinics, and may encountered patients with infectious diseases, chronic disorders, or in emergency situations. In addition, students participate in an array of community development activities and have opportunities to explore the local customs and history of the area.
Doctors for Global Health
Location: Argentina, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua
Participation: undergraduates, graduates, or medical students.
Since its inception, DGH has accompanied communities in Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Uganda. Their goal is to improve the health and well-being of these communities by increasing access to quality health care; developing educational opportunities and avenues for artistic expression; and raising awareness of health and other human rights.
Hospital de La Familia
Andrew Patterson, MD, PhD; Assistant Professor of Anesthesia, Stanford SoM
Location: Nuevo Progreso, Guatemala
Time: varies
Participation: undergraduates, medical students, residents
Dr. Andrew Patterson volunteers as a team leader for groups of undergraduates, medical students and residents on trips to rural Guatemala to provide health care for underprivileged children and adults.
International Alliance in Service & Education (IASE) Clerkships
Christine Gabaldi, Ed.D; Founder and President, IASE;
Lecturer, Center for Education in Family and Community Medicine
Location: South Africa and Mexico
Times: January-May, Mid-July-November
Participation: medical students
Both clerkships focus on health and education in the area of primary care, public health, community-based research projects, mental and chronic disease management, nutrition, tropical and infectious diseases, and topics and services that are relevant and identified by the local community.
International Clerkship in Family and Community Medicine
Sam Le Baron , MD, PhD; Professor of Family and Community Medicine
Location: Mexico, South Africa, India, China, and Tibet
Times: Periods 1-12 available, full-time for 4-8 weeks
Participation: medical students, open to visitors
This clerkship includes clinical, academic, and experiential components. The clinical component provides students an opportunity to interact with physicians, community leaders, health care workers, and patients in international settings. Students will spend some time in one or more primary care clinics under the supervision of a medical preceptor, developing and practicing clinical skills, conducting health screening, and patient interviews. Participants are also encouraged to gain knowledge of local institutions, including medical schools, health departments, and local community governments. In some sites students will have an opportunity to learn to effectively communicate health care issues in an appropriate manner in the local language. The clerkships in Mexico and South Africa are cosponsored in partnership with International Alliance in Service and Education (IASE). The clerkships in India, China and Tibet are cosponsored in partnership with Volunteers in Asia (VIA) and organizations in the respective country.
Interplast
Andrew Patterson, MD, PhD; Assistant Professor of Anesthesia, Stanford SoM
Location: Honduras, Ecuador, Bolivia
Time: varies
Participation: undergraduates, medical students, residents
Dr. Andrew Patterson volunteers to lead groups of undergraduates, medical students and residents on Interplast trips to various Central and South American countries to provide free reconstructive surgery for underprivileged children and adults.
Medical Missions for Children
Andrew Patterson, MD, PhD; Assistant Professor of Anesthesia, Stanford SoM
Location: Southern Peru
Time: varies
Participation: undergraduates, medical students, residents
Dr. Andrew Patterson volunteers to lead groups of undergraduates, medical students and residents on trips to Southern Peru to provide health care for underprivileged children.
Roatan Clinical and Public Health Internship
Jennifer Miller; Director of R.C.P.H.I.
Location: Honduras
Time: summer, fall, winter
Participation: undergraduates, graduates, or medical students.
Through one-month to three-month internships, R.C.P.H.I. interns will have the opportunity to learn about pediatric medicine while working alongside American and Honduran doctors, residents, medical students, nurses, and other health care workers. Students can also intern in an HIV outreach clinic, volunteering in private family medicine clinics run by Honduran physicians and missionaries, or carrying out their own individual public health projects or research.
Mount Sinai International Exchange Program for Minority Students
Location: Argentina, Chile, Spain, Brazil, Mexico or South Africa
Time: summer
This internship available through the Mount Sinai School of Medicine offers recent minority graduates and current undergraduate or graduate minority students the opportunity to do community-based research under the guidance of a prominent international scientist. They offer a stipend from $1200 to $1900 per month. The deadline for application is February 15.
