Service That Sticks

What if the most powerful thing you bring to clinic isn’t a medication but a moment of calm and a clear explanation? That question runs through our conversation with Maddie Huff, a recent public health graduate and future physician whose path was forged in service—from repairing ramps in Appalachia to leading medical mission cohorts in rural Guatemala.

We unpack the early sparks that made service feel inevitable, then trace how COVID forced a reset that ultimately deepened focus. Maddie explains how joining a pre‑medical fraternity created mentorship and momentum, and how taking on trip leadership taught logistics, cultural humility, and the art of building trust. Inside clinic days, she walks through a simple, repeatable model—three students per patient, clear roles, case presentations to local physicians, and a pharmacy loop—that turns learning into care. Then we sit with the moment a patient named Sarah asked for her racing mind to stop, and how ten minutes of shared breath gave her a tool she could carry long after the team left.

Through a public health lens, we examine social determinants of health, access barriers, and why education may be the strongest medicine in low‑resource settings. Maddie contrasts a UTI treated in an afternoon in the U.S. with months‑long symptoms abroad caused by distance, lost wages, and limited clinics, and makes the case for prevention, self‑management, and local partnerships. We also get honest about emotion: nightly reflection circles, walls coming down, and why tears aren’t weakness—they’re evidence of connection and growth outside our comfort zones.

If you care about global health, medical education, or how service can shape a career with purpose, you’ll find practical insights and human stories here. Listen, reflect, and share it with someone who needs a reminder that dignity, education, and presence travel with us wherever we practice. If this resonated, follow the show, leave a quick review, and tell us the one small tool you think every clinic should teach.

I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to not only share with you our guest’s introduction to international healthcare, but also to share with you how that exposure to international healthcare has shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations. 

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 my students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that healthcare focused students need, and greatly benefit from the opportunity to have hands-on experiential healthcare experiences in an international setting! I have seen the growth of students post travel as their self-confidence in their newly acquired skillsets, both clinical and cultural, facilitates their ability to take advantage of opportunities that previously may not have been available to them. By rendering care internationally, and stepping outside one's comfort zone, many more doors of opportunity will be opened.

Feel free to check out our website at www.islonline.org, follow us on Instagram @ islmedical, and reach out to me @ DrH@islonline.org

Transcript

Welcome & Mission of the Podcast

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Well hey there, I am Dr. Patrick Hickey, or Dr. H, as many of my students refer to me. I want to welcome you to another episode of the International Service Learning Experiential Medical Education Podcast. During each episode, I will be interviewing healthcare-focused students and faculty from high school to university that have had an opportunity to participate in an international service learning trip. Additionally, I will be discussing the benefits and challenges to international service with healthcare professionals that have served abroad, as well as industry leaders in healthcare, education, study abroad, spirituality, and those living in the countries being served. Today I am excited to have Maddie Huff as my guest. Maddie is a recent graduate of the University of South Carolina with a major in public health and a minor in neuroscience. Maddie's goal post-undergrad is that of attending med school and at this time is going through the gap year process of submitting applications and secondaries and coordinating invitations for interviews. I have had the privilege of having Maddie as a former student at the University of South Carolina. And full disclosure, she has recently started to assist international service learning with their social media needs. Maddie jumped at the opportunity to be a part of ISL, as she believes, as I do, in their mission of service. In this new role, Maddie has had an opportunity to interact with students from all over the United States, both pre- and post-service learning trips abroad. And by doing so, she's able to share a perspective that few have had specific to these trips. Maddie has a very rich history of service and travel abroad, and I look forward to her sharing her perspectives of the value of both. Well, hey Maddie, this is uh Dr. H and great to have you here today. Just uh for our listening audience, just uh let's just start off and and tell us a little bit about yourself. Where where are you from?

SPEAKER_00 2:14

I'm from Kentucky, originally, Louisville, Kentucky. And then I went to the University of South Carolina for undergrad. I was a COVID senior, so I was very nervous about going to a place where I didn't know anyone, but ended up um joining a sorority and met a ton of friends. And then I joined FIDE, and that's where I really kind of blossomed in my my service and was able to grow there. I traveled to, well, I was hoping to travel to Guatemala in my freshman year, but COVID kind of put a halt on that trip. And then we went sophomore year, and then I continued junior and senior year as well. And I graduated last May and am currently living in Charleston, applying to med school and working in a clinic.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Wow, that's a lot. You you sound like you've been quite busy. I I like the term COVID senior. I haven't heard that term before.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Yeah, I feel like kind of groups all of us in there that like didn't have graduation or prom and none of those last hurrahs that most people get when you graduate high school.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

So well, in my in my preamble, I I I noted that I've had the pleasure of having you as a student before. And and I also have the pleasure of of having had reviewed your resume. Um I'd like you to to share a little bit, if you don't mind, with your your service history in high school. I mean, that's something that of all the resumes I've seen of of university students, that that just stood out. And and I I'd like for you to share that if you if you could.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Yes, absolutely. I went to Catholic grade school and high school, and from a very young age, and like the value of service was instilled in me. And each year, when I was in grade school, even we had a focus of a marginalized group and how we were gonna help them. My seventh grade year was homeless, and we were partnered partnered really close with a local ministry called Hand in Hand, and they had the opportunity um to go to Appalachia for fall break, and I jumped at it and I loved it. So in seventh grade, I went to Appalachia for three days where we repaired a wheelchair ramp for this lovely lady who couldn't exit her home anymore. We repaired the roofing on a house for this older gentleman in Appalachia. It's really rainy. So he just had like this giant hole in the middle of his living room. So we were able to repair, repair that. And then we also helped clean up trash around the local community community and provided um like a food drive for them. So after that, that was kind of like I had never felt so much joy of doing something like that. And I went again my eighth grade year, and then I went again freshman year before going into high school, and then I was able to go to Belize going into my sophomore year of high school, where we actually built a house for a mom and her three kids. And that was the most amazing thing I've probably ever done. We were house number 382 with hand-in-hand ministries. Everyone in Belize City like knows that hand-in-hand truck because they know how much work we've done there. Just immediately feeling like part of their community was a feeling I'll really never forget. And then my senior year of high school, I had the opportunity to go to Jamaica for a mission trip as well. And there we worked with local students. But the most impactful day we got to spend at a nursing home. I mean, the nuns that ran the nursing home, it was Ash Wednesday. So they had the day off and they really needed help. So we were able to help their local residents there. And a lot of them had been, had not been taken care of in a really long time. So to be able to provide care for them, we were applying lotion on their legs and on their arms, and we're able to feed them food. It was just like healthcare stripped down to its most basic form of like human connection. But that was kind of my my spark after that trip. I was like, I want to go into medicine.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Where where where does your service heart come from, Maddie? I mean, what what were your influences that you were so involved in service at such a such a young age?

SPEAKER_00 6:21

I think the biggest one's my mom. My mom's a nurse, and ever since I've been a little kid, I've continuously witnessed her give more things to other people than for herself, like whether that was our cousins or her patients or me. I just she always went above and beyond to make sure people felt love and cared for. And I think like I just kind of I kind of got that from her. And the more I did it when I was young, the the not the better it made me feel, but the more I grew to love helping others. And I knew growing up and a pretty affluent family and neighborhood that I was lucky and I was gifted to have all of the things that I had, and that I wasn't a lot of people aren't as lucky as I am, and so I wanted to give back because everyone deserves to have a lot of the things that I took for granted as a kid.

From High School Service to Campus Involvement

SPEAKER_01 7:12

So well, thanks for sharing. What a what a great influence your mom was. You know, one thing I've noticed, Maddie, from being a university professor and looking at a lot of resumes is that so many students were so involved in their high schools, in in sports and service and so many other things. And once they get to college, they they seem to stop doing that. But you know, your service heart that you had in high school, did that continue in college?

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Yes, it did. And I do think COVID made it tough. It was the one thing when I went into college, I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to go into medicine. I think I was scared to commit to another 12 years of school at the time. But I knew that I wanted to go into service. And I I vividly remember getting the email about the org fair, and it said, Dr. Hickey's going to Guatemala. And I was like, that is one thing I'm 100% sure I want to do. And I went to the org fair and I remember introducing myself because I knew it was like the one thing that I knew would help guide me and help me figure out what I wanted to do with my career. And I know like it was very tough freshman year opportunity-wise, because you know, there was you couldn't get into the hospital and there wasn't as many volunteer options. But I think freshman year, I kind of took the time to be more in the classroom and figure out like the science side of medicine and figure out if I wanted to do that more than I was able to be in the volunteering side out in the real world.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

So your first trip abroad was during your freshman year, is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 8:42

My sophomore year.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

Oh, sophomore year. I apologize. And were you involved in in addition to the uh uh study abroad trip, were you involved in any other service capacity at the University of South Carolina?

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Uh in FIDEE, we did a few things here and there, volunteering down at local shelters, but not really. The service trips were my big thing during the summer, one of my summers at home in Louisville. However, I worked at a homeless center, a homeless clinic, and that was probably like my most favorite volunteer thing I've ever done. But I went twice a week down to the clinic and helped the physician. But everyone that we came in was homeless, and we were able to provide them free medical care. And a lot of times I realized that people just wanted someone to talk to and listen to and hear their name out loud, and someone asked them, you know, how are you doing, Dave? Or that so many people that are homeless go so long without ever hearing their name or being spoken to like an actual human. So that was probably, I just I loved everything about that experience.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Now you've mentioned student orgs and you've mentioned PhiDE. We assume that everyone knows it, what FIDE is. You want to take a moment just, I mean, I like that we bring up student organizations and maybe some of our audience are students that are aspiring to go to college. Number one, do you recommend that students get involved in student organizations as an opportunity to be more involved in service? And and number two, what what are some of those specialty organizations you you've mentioned, PhiDE?

Building Community Through Pre‑Med Organizations

SPEAKER_00 10:13

I definitely recommend getting involved with the professional organization. I was involved in like a sorority, but getting involved with the pre-professional fraternity really helped me to make a lot of connections and grow in my professionalism. There were a lot of things that I was kind of interested in. And once I joined, I was able to meet different people that also had those same interests. And we were able to, I was able to explore those more and make more connections as opposed to not being involved. But Phi DE is stands for Phi Delta Epsilon and it's a pre-medical fraternity. A lot of my friends were also in AED, which is the same thing, but for pre-health, so they have more opportunities to explore PA, P T O T and dental pathways. But Phi D kind of became like a family for me really quick, especially junior year. Everyone was in the same boat, fine, you know, taking MCAT and trying to meet all these requirements. But um being in a community like that really makes you not feel like you're alone when you're going through something so tough and trying to navigate your future career when you're only, you know, 19, 20 years old. But it's a huge reason of why where I am today.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Maddie, just to help help the audience to know a little bit better, you went in your sophomore year to Guatemala. Tell us about your junior and senior year. You went as a student to Guatemala as a part of a cohort. What about your junior and senior year? Were you still involved in international service?

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Yes, my junior and senior year, I actually became Fide's medical mission trip coordinator and began and took over running that trip for our organization. So my junior year, I led a cohort of eight other students, and my senior year, I led a cohort of 15 other students, which I transitioning to the leadership role in my junior and senior year was really awesome because I I had had a bunch of service experience, but to be able to help others have that same experience and have that same spark ignited in them completely, like was they were both completely different trips for that reason. Cause I was able to form connections with my students and help push them out of their comfort zone and find their calling all these trips. So I I loved that.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Well, speaking of comfort zone, I'm sure it pushed you out of your own comfort zone to try to keep up academically, be social, do all the things you normally do, and then lead a cohort and organize. I mean, how much of a challenge was it for you to pull all that together?

Leading International Cohorts & Growth

SPEAKER_00 12:39

It was tough. It's definitely hard to balance everything. I think a lot of people in the pre-health world can definitely agree that it's always about a struggle game of balancing, but leading the cohort and planning everything for the trip never felt like a job or a responsibility. It was something I was lucky enough to do. But it kind of just became like it was like my free time. It was what I enjoyed doing. And I loved planning for the trip and meeting with our in-country coordinators. And so it never really felt like a job. So I think that's kind of why the balance could stay, because it was like, oh, you know, I have a couple hours on Sunday night and I'm watching TV with my roommates, but I can open my computer and do some work here. And it didn't really feel like it was work because I loved it so much.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

Well, thanks for sharing. We've we've kind of built up to the the service learning trip abroad and we've talked about the the preparation. Tell us a little bit about what's a typical day like on a service learning trip. You you've done sounds like you've done three of them now. One as a student member of a cohort, uh, two more as leaders. What is your typical day like? And is there a typical day?

SPEAKER_00 13:41

I think for the most part, the days are pretty similar. There's like four days that kind of look exactly the same, but getting up around 7 a.m., having breakfast on the bus by 8 a.m., um, depending on how far the location is of your clinic, getting to clinic around 8, 8, 8:30. Um, and then being in clinic anywhere from nine to noon, nine to one. We always tried to make sure everybody could wrap up at the same time so that we could have lunch together. And then being in clinic again from one to four-ish, traveling back to the hotel, um, and then regrouping for dinner around 5:30, 6 o'clock. And then always was followed by some sort of recreational activity or some suture class was also one we always did, um, or just having time to roam around the town. But then then we something I did my junior and senior year when I was leading is at the end of the night, we would all meet in a one of our hotel rooms and we would talk about our highs and our lows of the day, which I began to love a lot because there's so much that happens throughout the day. And when you're in clinic over here with John B and you know, Nick's over here, you don't know what patients they interact with. So it was a really cool way to come together and kind of talk about a lot of the things that we had seen and kind of learn from each other on how to navigate the next day and just kind of share some stories because a lot of the things that you see when you're there is not a lot of stuff that you would see in the United States. So to be able to reflect with the with your team was really awesome. And I think it kind of bonded us to for the rest of the time and even now.

A Day in Clinic: Roles & Flow

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Well, Maddie, I I appreciate you talking about reflection. I think that's so important, having been a nurse for 45 plus years and reflecting on the different scenarios and patients that you were exposed to. During those reflections, were students free and willing to be able to share their emotions at the same time? Because, you know, from the faculty perspective, I don't see that side. I don't know how emotional students get about a certain scenario or if they're putting up a defense or walls to their emotions. Were you able to experience any of that?

SPEAKER_00 15:42

I mean, a lot of us were like knew each other, knew of each other prior to the trip, but I never really like connected or had one-on-one conversations. But at first, I think there was a little uncomfortableness as we'd start. But at the first few days, I would always start. And I think sharing like your high was always lighthearted. You know, I played soccer with this little kid on the field and I like fell on my face, and then everyone would laugh. And then reflecting on the low-band, we'd kind of like acknowledge something that we saw that, you know, something we hadn't thought about before or something that we had never seen in the States, and everybody kind of would collectively agree and chime in. So I think at first it was tough for everyone to open up, but by the end of the week, I mean, there were a few stories people would share and we would everyone would cry because you know, it just break your heart a little bit. But I think it's kind of something that like bonds people on service learning trips is that you all kind of share this collective experience and to be able to talk about it while you're there has that relationship that lasts way longer than the trip.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

But that's great that you implemented the reflection process and that you were there to help the students to grasp or grasp or to to deal with their emotions, because that is uh something that in healthcare we're we're always very concerned about. Now, we talked a lot about the clinic. What what what actually goes on in the clinic? I mean, you you talked about a timeline. Tell us just about the process of meeting the patients or taking vitals, if you could just elaborate a little bit on that for us.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

Yes, absolutely. So normally what we have is three students to one patient. One patient will transcribe, so they'll write down everything. One will ask the questions and then one will take the vitals. Those also kind of functuate, like obviously, if the person taking vitals has questions, they can also chime in and ask questions. But we kind of do that so that everyone can share roles and that one can kind of be in charge of leading the patient interaction each time. So the way that that works, um, after the questions are all asked, everyone's asked all their questions. I mean, we feel like we have everything we need to treat the patient. We call the physician over and then explain what is going on with the patient and present her the information we have, and then we kind of move forward with how to diagnose if there's any medications we need, but most importantly, the knowledge that we can provide the patient moving forward. And then yeah, that's kind of how it goes. We also have a pharmacy located there. So if there are meds that we need to prescribe them, we'll send them over to the pharmacy. And there's always kids running around too. So trying to stay focused while there's these cute little kids running around. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Well, speaking about kids and patients, was there any any patient that stood out to you or any any any situation or scenario that was very surprising?

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Yes, I have one that I think will stick with me probably for the rest of my life. But my senior year, I was leader, so I was kind of delegating and kind of being there for my students more than actually interacting with the patients. But our last day, we had a ton of patients come and we were trying to make sure that we could see everyone before our day had come to an end. So I was with this one patient, her name was Sarah, and we started talking through the translator as she was explaining this abusive marriage that she felt like she was trapped in. And we are in rural Guatemala, there's nowhere, she has no family, meaning workflows, and how she felt stuck. And she kept saying, Can you turn my brain off? Can you slow my heart rate down? She spoke Quechakel, which is the local language in Guatemala. So in English, she was describing anxiety without having the words for it. So our translator had walked away, and I'm trying to butcher through my Spanish, and she's trying to meet me halfway with her Spanish. And I told her about how helpful yoga had been to me. And how, like, when I'm freaking out and I can't turn, you know, slow my heart rate down, turn my brain off, that just breathing really helps me. So for 10 minutes, I'm like waving my arms up in the air, inhalar and exhale. And this whole time before, she had been crying and she was hunched over, and I could see the anxiety just sitting on her shoulders, and we're breathing together, and I slowly like saw it dissipate. And then we stopped and she just started sobbing and told me that she was so grateful that someone actually gave her like a tool that she could use because every per every doctor she talked to has just been like, you need to go see a therapist, you need to do this, you need to do this. But I was actually able to give her something that actually helped her regulate her nervous system and calm her down. And although I wasn't able to actually help her get out of the abusive marriage, I know that we still I still think about her all the time. And I hope she does the same.

The Patient Sarah: Anxiety, Breathwork, Dignity

SPEAKER_01 20:26

Isn't it amazing that it sometimes can be the most simplest of things that make a huge difference? Just the fact that you took the time and shared with Sarah something that's worked for you that probably a doctor has never prescribed or probably has never taken the time to do that. Nothing against them not being able to do that, but but through your personal interaction with Sarah, that put her on a in a much better place that, as you said, maybe didn't help her with the relationship issues, but it put her in a better place that she could deal with the emotions and the challenges that she was feeling through that uh destructive relationship. That that's huge. That's great. Now, those emotions that you just shared, how do you share that with people when you come home? I mean, I mean, I understand because I've been there on the trips, but when you're trying to relate this wonderful experience and and and the emotions, the roller coaster I call of emotions that you experience, you know, the highs and the lows, does it fall on deaf ears when you when you try to explain to people here's here's what the the power here's how powerful these trips are, or or or do people comprehend?

SPEAKER_00 21:32

I think it's tough. You could definitely I could definitely tell the interactions that I have with people that have been on service learning trips when I tell them stories for mine versus people who haven't. It's just because even as much as you can explain it, it's really hard to find the words to explain the experience and really put yourself, describe the situation well enough to put people where they are and where you are on the trip, and that you're an hour from Panachel, which is already a small town in Guatemala, and you're in the middle of these mountains and you don't have service on your phone, and just being able to like try to describe the living conditions that people live in. It's it's definitely hard to comprehend. And I think if I hadn't have gone on a trip, it would also be tough for me to understand. So I like, I think a lot of my really close friends have heard that story before, but and like all the friends that were there on that trip that like watched it, watched that interaction happen, like tear up when we talk about it. So it's definitely different with like the friends that I went with on that trip versus people that haven't. But it's just because it's such like a foreign concept to a lot of people because the living conditions there are nothing like here in the states.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

Well, well, that's a good segue, actually, into my next question. In what ways did this trip change your perspective on healthcare in our in our country here in the United States? You saw the healthcare system, maybe the access to healthcare issues. How did that change your perspective here in the United States?

Translating Experience Back Home

Public Health Lens: Access, Education, Prevention

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Well, so sophomore, you're Doctor, if you convinced me to change my major to public health for all of these reasons. But the main thing was because of the drastic difference in our healthcare systems. We talked a lot about the social determinants of health. And I found in Guatemala and all my service learning trips, most of the issues, most of health issues stem from things that are not related to health, as opposed to the states, most of it is health related from conscious decisions there. Whereas in Guatemala, it was they just they don't have time to go to the doctor because they can't take a day off work and the closest hospital is an hour away. And they just the lack of knowledge of not understanding diabetes or that they shouldn't be drinking eight Cokes a day, stuff like that was really eye-opening to me. And I think it's a huge reason throughout my future career. I want to continue going back because I think a lot of the biggest impact that we can have on international, on international countries and these underserved communities is providing them with the education and the knowledge and the prevention strategies to help prevent issues from becoming forward. We also talked a lot about in my public health classes, like acute diseases progressing to chronic. And that's like most of the stuff that we saw in Guatemala, a bunch of UTIs that had gone untreated just simply because they didn't have the resources. But you get a UTI in the States, you go to the little urgent care, they give you your antibiotics and you go about your merry way and you don't think twice about it. But I mean, I remember at least like three women that I spoke to on the trips that had had, you know, a UTI for three months and it was it had just progressed to way worse than it could have been. So I think that's like the biggest difference is that there's not the prevention or the education in those in the underserved communities abroad that they really do need. Um and I think that would make all the difference.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

Now you uh alluded to your future career. What is your future career? And did this trip affect your future career and the goals for your future career? How do you see implementing what you learned on these trips in in your future career?

SPEAKER_00 25:12

Well, I want to go to medical school. I'm actually applying right now. I these trips are 100% the reason that I want to be a physician. I throughout college, as I'm sure a bunch of pre-health students can also relate. I questioned if this was the right path for me, if I had what it takes, if you know, if I was gonna make it. And every time I went on this trip, I was reminded why I'm doing this, and these are the people that I want to serve. So moving forward in my future career, I know I will continue to go abroad. I hope to do whatever school I end up, a lot of the med schools offer away rotations, their third and fourth year to international countries. So that's definitely something I will do. And working, continue to work with ISL or Doctors Without Borders. And my ideal plan would be to like spend a month or two abroad throughout the rest of my career to establish like a consistent clinic that can provide care. Because I think that was always the feeling when you left, like, oh, I wish I could do more, I wish I could stay longer, I wish there was more help I could provide. So I would love to somehow make it a way that we could keep it could be a clinic that was open more often.

Career Direction: Medicine with Purpose

SPEAKER_01 26:24

I'm I'm glad you shared that last piece about, you know, I feel like I need to go back, I feel like I need to help. And my experience after having done this for for 20 years is that I've had a lot of lot of students who shared with me, I feel like I'm putting a band-aid on a problem. You know, I I need to go back, I need to keep trying to do something. And and one thing is you know, and you've probably learned in your public health classes that yes, we can give antibiotics, yes, we can give treatments, but then we're gone and a week or two later they're back in the same situation. So the most powerful thing we can give them is education. You know, if we can educate them and try and help them and empower them to be able to take care of their problems, that's the best gift that we can give them. And and I really appreciate that that you've been able to do that. I mean, you've in your four years of undergrad, you traveled three of those four years rendering service to underserved populations and and made a huge impact. I'm sure that Sarah is thinking of you quite often as as you have made a great difference in her life. And for students that are considering a similar trip, you know, that that maybe are a little concerned about international settings or the food or the customs or or their lack of being able to speak another another language, what recommendations would you give students for doing something similar to what you've done?

SPEAKER_00 27:43

I think if it's one thing I've tried to live by these last few years is you grow when you're out of your comfort zone. And I'm not going to sit here and say, like when I first went to Guatemala, I was so comfortable and I was so ready to eat all this food I didn't know and it being a place I didn't know. But the growth that I have experienced in being those places that made me uncomfortable is fully why I am where I am today. And I think like knowing that you are scared shows that you care. And knowing that you are uncomfortable shows that you want to grow. And so just being open to trying a new culture is really gonna. And we talk about how much like we give to these communities and we try to help them, but you lead the trip and you realize that you all actually received more than you gave, just like the growth that you feel and the impact that it has on yourself. So just honestly, my biggest advice would just be if it's making you uncomfortable, then you should do it.

Growth Outside Comfort Zones

SPEAKER_01 28:38

Well, I I appreciate that you sharing that you receive more than you gave. That's that's an experience I've I've enjoyed on on all of my service learning trips. And I think until you've been there and done that, you you don't understand, but but that's great. I mean, that's a great recommendation. Also, you alluded just a little bit ago to your involvement with ISL. In your role with social media, you've been able to interact somewhat with students before the trips and and after through Instagram takeovers and a variety of different processes where they make reels and and send pictures. Do you have any any input, Maddie, from from those experiences from the social media perspective of your interactions with students?

SPEAKER_00 29:22

I would say, like, once again, we're just talking about like being uncomfortable, but I can see how apparent that is at the beginning of the week through the pictures that students send, or like through the videos that they send me in the clinic, I can see like the the weight on their shoulders and like that they're a little uncomfortable. But I think my favorite thing is no hands down, no hesitation by the end of the week on that last day when they're playing with the kids in the community. There is just there's no barriers. There's just laughter and joy, and everyone's playing soccer and everyone's running around listening to music. So it's I I've really enjoyed that about being. In running the social media is I've seen those walls that get broken down and those barriers. And I kind of wrote about this like in my med school application, but kind of like how the two worlds like merge into one. And I've been able to like really see that firsthand running the social media. Um, and it's like a constant reminder of like this is this is why I love what this is why I love these trips, because we're, you know, bringing two completely different people into each other's lives. And I mean, I remember when I left my junior year, everyone was crying. There was like 15 of us, everyone was crying, nobody wanted to leave. And I mean, they're like, there was a couple of guys on our trips, and they're juniors in college. You don't really see guys that age crying, and they're they're crying because this little girl is like six years old and she just wants to be pushed on the swing a little bit longer and doesn't want him to leave. And so I think like going off of that, the being able to see these pictures and see the growth even through the pictures throughout the week as they, you know, get more comfortable and let their barriers come down, as well as the community's barriers come down. And then by the end of the week, it's like everyone's a little family.

Social Media Windows: Barriers Falling

SPEAKER_01 31:04

Well, thanks for sharing about the the crying, because that's something that I've experienced in 20 years of service learning trips. And and it it's it's it's it's a raw emotion that that it's right under the surface sometimes, and it's it's it's begging to get out. And and I think it's it's almost like when one cries and it it it's it's it's allowed me now to cry also. And and and and that's what what a wonderful place to be when you're surrounded by good friends that are sharing such a deep emotion about a situation, and and it truly shows the love you have for service when that emotion that's right under the surface comes to the surface, and then everybody's crying, and and what a unique opportunity to share that with such good friends. And and uh I really appreciate sharing that. I've shared many tears myself, I'm not ashamed to say, over the years with my students in similar situations when when we got so connected with the patients and the community and the families, and we we really didn't want to, we really didn't want to leave. And as you said, it could be something simple as just pushing a child on a swing one more time or holding their hand or going for a walk with them or hugs. Hugs are amazing on these trips, and we get so connected, it's it's so hard. I mean, I'm I really appreciate you sharing that. I mean, I understand what you're sharing, what you're sharing. We hope that the audience can can feel a little bit of that emotion also. You did mention one last thing, but your personal statement for med school. You know, in in my experience, after 20 years of doing this, I've had many of my pre-med students have shared with me that in their med school interview, the service learning medical mission trip uh has come up in the conversation. Do you anticipate that that will be similar when you have your your interview?

SPEAKER_00 32:53

Absolutely. I think it's definitely the thing that shines through on my resume. And I think a lot of you can't like you can what's the word? I don't want to say you can't, it's it's raw. It's like real, it's who I am, and it's not fake on my application. Like you can, because it's not just oh, like a little blurb. It's prevalent throughout my entire application, it's in my personal statement, it's in my work and activities, it's throughout my secondary. So it's very prominent in my application, like how important these experiences were to me and how much of an impact they had on my future career and why I want to go into medicine. Honestly, I hope they asked me about it because I could talk about it forever.

Passion, Interviews, and Future Impact

SPEAKER_01 33:34

I'm sure you can. And you you've got a lot of rich stories you can share with them. The people listening don't know me, but you know, I have a lot of what I call hickeisms where I where I share a lot of things. And one thing I've shared, and you you never know if things are getting through to your students when you share them, but one thing I've shared quite a lot is passion trumps everything. And is it's clearly evident, you know, in what you're saying today, that that your passion is overwhelming for what you've done. And that passion for serving underserved people will carry through your med school program. And I can see that you'll be one of those few physicians somewhere in the near future that you'll say, okay, staff, we're gonna shut down the office, we're gonna head to Guatemala, we got a week planned of doing health care, and and so be it. I mean, this is what we need to see more of. And and that that passion you have is contagious. So the people that have never done this before, when you start to interact with them, they're gonna feel your passion and they want to jump on that bandwagon and they want to have the same feeling. So I think it's it's wonderful that you've had the experiences that you've had, that you've made the differences that you've made when you've traveled abroad, and that you're gonna continue to make as you go into med school and work with with peers that probably have never done what you have done and maybe plant that seed with them, the same seed that's been planted with you many, many, many years ago. Well, Maddie, it's been so exciting to um to chat with you. Um I really appreciate all the wisdom that you shared from all of your experiences. And I wish you the best as you get ready for your med school journey with interviews coming up in the spring, which is quite exciting. What an exciting time for you. But I know as you move forward that that that passion for international service is going to be foremost in your decisions on what you do in the future.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Yes, absolutely. It'll I know I have done a lot of service, but I think this is only just the beginning.

Closing Gratitude & Takeaways

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Well, thank you again. It's been our pleasure to have you on today, and again, we wish you the best. I want to sincerely thank our guest Maddie for her willingness to join us today on the International Service Learning Experiential Medical Education podcast. But most importantly, I want to thank Maddie for the passion that she has shared with us specific to her journey in healthcare. The future patients and families for whom Maddie will care for will be very fortunate to have her as their health care provider, as she is a very passionate and caring patient advocate, a role model that we should all aspire to mimic. I want to also thank our listeners for joining us, as it is our goal to not only share with you our guests' introduction to international health care, but also to share with you how that exposure to international health care shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well-rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations, and the five.