From Mission Trips to the ER

A single sentence can change a life. For Blake Jones, it was a cold prediction at 16 that pushed him toward medicine with a vow to lead with skill and compassion. Years later, two service learning trips—first to Costa Rica, then Guatemala—turned that vow into a calling, as he learned to practice “medicine from a backpack,” partner with local physicians, and make focused decisions when resources run scarce. Those days in makeshift clinics didn’t just teach vitals and physical exams; they hardwired a mindset: do the most good with what you have, and never lose sight of the person in front of you.

From there, Blake layered in the discipline of research, the urgency of EMT training, and the realism of full-scale disaster simulations at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. The Health Professions Scholarship Program opened a path to serve as an Army physician, blending a taste for austere medicine with a deep commitment to patients who run toward danger. Now at a Level 1 trauma center within a military-civilian partnership, he’s steeped in high-acuity cases, tough rotations, and the kind of repetition that builds judgment fast. Along the way, he shares two cases that still anchor his why: an elderly patient with a palpable abdominal aortic aneurysm who needed swift escalation, and a woman who needed a $20 antibiotic that changed everything when a student reached into her pocket.

We get practical and personal: what service learning clinics actually look like, how to think about research that opens doors, why HPSP may fit a mission-driven student, and how to face burnout without losing your center. Blake’s message is clear and hard-earned: if you’re chasing money or status, medicine will drain you; if you’re here to make someone’s life better, it gives more than it takes. For students nervous about cost or comfort zones, we talk scholarships, mentors, and why saying yes can reshape your career—and your character.

Subscribe for more stories that connect global health, medical education, and real-world emergency care. If this conversation sparked something for you, share it with a friend, leave a review, and tell us the moment that shaped your path.

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 & Blake’s Origin Story

Dr. H 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 very excited to have Captain Blake Jones MD as my guest. I've had the privilege of having Blake as a former student, and I'm eager for him to share with us his journey in healthcare. Blake graduated in 2021 from the University of South Carolina with a major in biology and a minor in neuroscience. And in May of this year, he graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville as an MD. Well, in his undergraduate time at the University of South Carolina, Blake went on two service learning trips to Costa Rica and Guatemala. Blake has recently started his emergency medicine residency at Wellstar Medical College of Georgia's health system in Augusta, Georgia. Well hey Blake. This is Dr. H. Pleasure to have you today. And uh just full disclosure, Blake is a former student. We've interacted before in class, most importantly, through through his university journey, which is really exciting for me. And I have this wonderful opportunity now to reconnect with some of my students. And and and and the and the the reason that we have Blake on today is because of this podcast and the theme of the podcast, which is looking at at international service learning and study broad opportunities. But Blake, before we get into all that, you were just about to share a story with me. Feel free, go ahead. Absolutely. Well, Dr.

Blake 2:22

It's very happy to be here with you today. But kind of in the theme of everything we were talking about before you went live here, I will truly never forget like my admitted students' day senior year of high school, sitting in the Capstan Auditorium at UFC, hearing you talk about the mission trips that you did, the healthcare trips that you did, how you bring students on them, and most importantly, your lesson that you instilled into all of us, literally before I've ever even met you, of always being willing to pay things forward. That has carried me through a lot of years of school. And now that I'm in residency, it continues to do so. And so I am honored and humbled that you thought of me to come give a talk like this because I think it's very full circle. So very happy to be here.

Dr. H 3:06

Well, I I appreciate that. Kind words, Blake. Ditto on on the on the honor too. It's, you know, I've I have so much respect for so many of my students, like yourself. I mean, you really stand out as being so determined on the path that you wanted. And you and I have shared many, many stories over the years because of your interest in emergency medicine. And I have a history of emergency medicine. And, you know, I don't meet that many students that already have a clear vision of where they want to go and and what they want to do. And I often think it's it's easier for them because a good majority of students have no idea of where they want to go and what they want to do. And that's what that's what life is. I mean, that's what undergrad is. You you you you step, you you put your toe in the water, you have an experience, you go somewhere, you do something, you listen to a lecture, you do a shadowing experience. And all those things hopefully help to clarify here's where I want to go and here's what I want to do. But let's uh find out a little bit more about yourself. Where where are you from and a little bit about your upbringing? Did you have any influences on your upbringing that helped to give you that clarity of where you wanted to go and what you wanted to do?

Choosing Emergency Medicine in Costa Rica

Blake 4:14

Yeah, so I'll give you the mini version of my med school elevator pitch. But I was born and raised just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, in a town called Huntersville. It's like up close to Lake Norman. Figured out pretty early on in life that I wanted to do something in healthcare. I always just felt the draw to it. My junior year of high school had a few pretty significant health challenges with some neurologic stuff that was going on, was in and out of a neurologist's office and a short version of that. So I had a neurologist tell me at that point in time that there's a non-zero chance that I had a version of ALS at 16 years old and that I would be dead in three years. Wow. Thankfully, he was very wrong. Everything worked itself out and I'm totally fine and healthy today. But that encounter that I had with that provider and the lack of compassion that he showed towards me and my inspired me to go into medicine in the doctoral lane. And so I came into USC as a bright-eyed freshman, thinking I wanted to be a neurologist, but 100% knowing that I wanted to be a doctor of some sort. And I really honed that interest, honed that passion for medicine, for science over the course of the next several years. One of those ways being through my mission trips with you, Dr. Hickey. And through those, specifically the Costa Rica trip that I did sophomore year with you, figured out that emergency medicine was where I ultimately wanted to wind up, which usually people don't figure that kind of thing out when they're 19 years old. But I did. And here I sit about six years later in my first year of emergency medicine residency in Augusta, Georgia. So a lot of uh lot of full circle moments and a lot of work to get there, but um body influences along the way that helped me do so.

Dr. H 6:00

Like what was your what was your major at USC?

Blake 6:04

So I was a biological sciences major with a minor in neuroscience and a second minor in business administration.

Dr. H 6:12

Thanks for sharing that story about your interaction with the healthcare provider. In my 20 plus years of of working with students at the university level, healthcare-focused students, I've heard so many share a similar type of story where it was either themselves or a family member that had an interaction with a healthcare provider that was ended up becoming integral to their path to become a physician, either because they saw the care that was provided and they could see themselves doing that, or the care that was provided was not the best and they felt that they could do better. And that that was kind of sort of something like you, what you went through. Is that correct?

Blake 6:54

100%. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. I I knew that healthcare was where I ultimately wanted to land. I was really fortunate that my high school had a magnet program kind of for healthcare, like in a in a broad sense. But I figured out pretty quickly through those interactions that kind of leading the ship in a way as an MD was where I wanted to wind up.

Dr. H 7:16

So your your goals in high school then started with something in healthcare, and then you clarified it a little bit further in your undergrad experience from a vision of neuro to emergency. And where did that actually happen? Can you recall? I mean, when you when you changed from neuro to wanting emergency medicine.

Research Lessons That Open Doors

Blake 7:39

Very specifically. So I thought neurology just because that was what I had some experience in. That's where I had my own bad experience. And then I worked in a neurosciences lab at USC under Dr. Jeff Twist, who's an MD PhD, doing some spinal cord regeneration work. Was in that lab for three years. It was a great experience, but I figured out that I really didn't like neuroscience that much doing that, even though I had the minor. So I was really unsure what I wanted to do. But going to Costa Rica, I kind of learned what medicine out of a backpack looked like. And I was really, really intrigued by that because the entire premise of emergency medicine, especially in a remote or off-grid or austere location like that, is how you can do the maximum amount of good for people with extremely limited resources. And something about that calculus to be able to provide that kind of care really just registered with me. But I also distinctly remember one of our conversations sitting in the garden at the at the uh nunnery that we say that in Costa Rica in downtown San Jose. And we sat out there probably for a good hour and a half with you telling me ER stories. And I was like, okay, yeah, I've already got the bug for this. Like, this sounds awesome. And then over the course of the following summer, so a couple of months after that trip, I was fortunate enough to wind up getting some shadowing in the ER and in the trauma ICU at Richland in Columbia. And that just sealed the deal. I had never been so interested in something in my life. Ultimately wound up taking an ER scribe job the following summer before going into my senior year of undergrad at Lexington Medical Center. And I just, I never looked back. I went into medical school knowing that that's what I wanted to do. I tailored every single aspect of my med school experience to making me the best possible EM clinician that I can be. And I just I never considered anything else, even for a minute, which is a dangerous thing when you get to medical school sometimes, especially if you're aiming pretty high. But um, it worked out for me, and I've been able to do that to the uh utmost of my abilities as I'm learning now in residency.

Dr. H 9:50

You've you've really established uh unbelievably high goals. I mean, for emergency residency. Having been there, done that, I I I totally understand. And, you know, I I really appreciate you sharing that story. Isn't it amazing how it could be it could be a conversation with someone or someone's passion that you that you hear that kind of changes your pathway in life and and that's what it's all about. I mean, really, you know, I I I try to encourage students to take the blinders off and and be open to to new experiences. And I've always felt that that I'm a glorified door opener, that I love opening a door of opportunity. I'd like you to step through it. If you like it, take advantage of it. If you don't like it, at least you step through the door. And you and you definitely have stepped through the door and ran up the stairs and are on the second and third floor.

Blake 10:40

Yeah, I think I uh to channel some of my army terminology, I think I explosively breached that door and then sprinted up the stairs once I was inside.

Dr. H 10:48

So hey, one thing you mentioned, and just if you don't mind, you you you were very involved in the research for three years. You know, for for students that are listening, you know, I uh as you know, I work with a lot of students that are interested in in med school and and graduate programs, PA and advanced practice nursing. I always share that with them that that research isn't needed necessarily, but I do strongly encourage students to get involved, you know, for a variety of reasons. Number one, making a connection with your faculty mentor. Number two, learning a lot more about research, because as a future advanced practitioner, you're gonna have to be sharing research studies. What is your uh recommendation on students getting involved in research?

Blake 11:31

Yeah, you know, I think it's uh I think it's a really important experience for people to have, at least in undergrad. There will be some research expectation of you in medical school. There's always some kind of scholarly activity that you have to complete in residency. So having some foundational understanding of that, I think is really important. I did bench research, basic science bench research for three years. And while, yes, it was a great experience for me, definitely not for everybody. And I will probably never do bench research again because it just, for me personally, it got kind of old. That being said, there are a lot of different kinds of research out there for people who were specifically interested in doing something in healthcare. I would strongly recommend trying to find some kind of clinical study that you could be a part of because those are a lot more interesting and they answer clinical questions rather than basic science ones. So I did a research project in under or not in undergrad, in medical school that was about pre-hospital blood administration for the ambulance program that we had in Greenville, South Carolina. And that was really interesting because I could see how like a cutting-edge medical innovation was affecting people firsthand in an environment that I was really interested in. And so I got to present that at a military conference in my beginning of my fourth year of med school. And so, like, and that too, open doors. So research I personally has found you build some good skills through it, but really it's about opening doors and kind of learning how to analytically take an analytical approach to data and integrate that into your clinical practice. Definitely not necessary, but I would strongly recommend doing it.

Military Medicine Path & HPSP

Dr. H 13:12

Well, I appreciate that. And and two things you just mentioned, if you if you don't mind, uh for follow-up. Uh, we haven't even talked about your med school yet. So if you don't mind talking to us about your journey post-undergrad, what it's been like in med school and and your path there. And also your your military. You've mentioned military a couple of times. So if you could speak to the med school and to the military component.

Blake 13:34

Yeah, so I'll they kind of coalesce well. So I'll deal both at the same time. So my freshman year at USC, actually, I was a part of Alpha Epsilon Delta or AED. I'm sure some people listening to this will be familiar. And as those people will know, to be able to go to the social events, you have to go to enough of the academic events too to get your points. And so one of the seniors in that group who was going to the military med school that we have in Bethesda, it's UCIS, he was bringing in a UCIS representative and an HPS for your health professional scholarship program recruiter to come talk to everybody. I was like, okay, you know, I'll get my points so I can go to SEMI with this. So I went to that presentation and I had a former Green Beret turn doctor talking to me, saying, Hey, yeah, you know, the military, when you're in the military as a doctor, not only can you do the type of healthcare you want to do, but you can also go jump out of planes with Navy Shield. You can go to dive courses, you can shoot machine guns, and you can ride in tanks. And oh, by the way, we'll pay for you to go to med school. And at 18 years old, a freshman and undergrad, I walked up to that guy and said, Hey, yeah, can I sign up for this now? Like, this sounds really cool. And he's like, come back to me in three years when you have a med school acceptance. And so three years later, I had a med school acceptance. I went back to him and said, Hey, yeah, can I sign up now? I wound up direct commissioning right before I graduated from USC. And the rest is history, as they say. But just that uh that sense of adventure, that sense of getting to serve some of the brightest, boldest, and bravest among us in this country, that really spoke to me. And there's a part of me that growing up always wanted to be in the military. I kind of gave that up to pursue medicine. But I was really fortunate to find a way that I could do both. And it's worked out quite well for me so far. As for medical school, I went to the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Greenville, South Carolina. Really was pulled to that school again through AED. I know this isn't an AED endorsement, but they do at Greensville this big exercise every year for their EMT students because part of the curriculum is you have to get your EMT certification in your first year before you start your M1 curriculum. And their culmination exercise for that, they call it disaster day. So they'll simulate like a mass shooting or a bombing or some other type of mass casualty situation at the school, and then we'll have the first year med students be who responds to it. But they do so in partnership with the Prisma Health Ambulance Service, the Greenville County Ambulance Service, Greenville County Fire, Greenville County Sheriff's Department, and a couple other first responders, like agencies. So it's a really, really cool, unique thing that you get to do. And for someone like me who's interested in EM, like obviously I was super into that, but I got to be one of the moolage actors for that in my sophomore year at USC. So they basically had me go stripped down shirtless, painted a bunch of fake blood all over me, and let me pretend like I got blown up for a few hours. And then let some first year med students do some EMT like basic treatments and stuff on me. I was like, okay, that's a pretty cool school. I kind of want to go here. And it wound up working out that I got in there. They gave me a little bit of scholarship money to go there, which wound up not really mattering once I got HPSV locked down. But again, the rest was history. And I spent four years up in Greenville, phenomenal experience, phenomenal med school. They take a very different approach to your medical education than a lot of your legacy schools, especially in the southeast, will do. And I feel like that has made me a really strong clinician early in residency. But I'm incredibly thankful for the experiences that I had there.

Dr. H 17:03

So tell us about your residency now.

EMT Training, Disaster Day, and Greenville

Blake 17:06

Yeah. So through the military, for those not familiar, when you were in the military, you go through what's called the military match. So regular match phase in March, military match is in December. So you apply to military programs at, you know, whatever branch of service that you're in. They each have their own hospitals. And so you apply to those. For emergency medicine, there are three strictly military programs. And the program that I'm at is what's called a military-civian partnership. So there's a cohort of in my intern class right now, there are nine of us who are active duty Army O3s or captains, who are all doing our residency at MCG or the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. And we are active duty, but we are working primarily at a civilian level trauma center. Starting our second year, we can do, they are basically moonlighting or like extra shifts on post at Fort Gordon at Eisenhower Army Medical Center there in their emergency department. But we are primarily focused on doing civilian emergency medicine and learning there. So I was fortunate enough to match there. It was my first choice program. So very happy about that. It's a very busy place. The population in the greater Augusta area. I read some survey the other day in medical literature that was saying the greater, what's the CSRA or Central Savannah River area. So like Augusta and like the 50-mile radius around it. It's the third sickest zip code in the entire country. So a lot of pathology down here, a lot of really complicated patients down here. And with that comes a lot of really good opportunities to learn. So I'm incredibly fortunate to train in a place like this. And I'm only like three months in at this point. Currently on a medical ICU rotation, and it is brutal. But the rest of residency has been awesome aside from this month. This month I'm learning a ton too. So I can't complain too much. But six, 12 hour shifts a week is definitely a lot.

Dr. H 18:58

So that that's that's a lot to share. And you did share one term that that the audience may not be familiar with, a level one trauma center. Yes. And I just mentioned that in a presentation the other night to a group of students, how I had worked in a level one trauma center in an emergence room setting. So for those that don't know, hospitals have levels of severity with a level one trauma center being one that will take anything and everything that comes in the door. They require that you have to have a surgeon right there, an anesthesiologist. And a lot of times in a level one trauma center, we're doing surgery in the emergency room that typically would only be done in the operating room to save a person's life. So kudos to you for training in a level one trauma center. And just down the road, where where do you anticipate your skill sets of dealing with multi-system problems as you're dealing with now? Where do you anticipate that your skill sets are going to be best used?

Blake 19:53

My goal as of right now, again, for those that don't know, if you take the HPSV scholarship after residency, you owe the military, so whatever branch that you're in, a minimum of four years of active duty service time. So I will be a full-time Army dude starting when I graduate residency for a minimum of four years. I'm hoping somewhere in that ballpark in that timeframe to wind up within Army Special Operations. So either with Special Forces or the Rangers or somewhere else in the special operations apparatus. And in places like that, it's a completely invaluable skill to be able to basically go into some of the most remote and hostile places in the world and to be able to provide care to anyone at any place at any time of day and under any condition. And that is that is precisely the type of medicine that I have trained all of this time to be able to provide. So hoping to wind up somewhere in that in that ballpark, but after the army, who knows? So kind of figure that one out.

Matching to a Level 1 Trauma Center

Dr. H 20:56

I I just have to say I'm so proud of you and and uh of your of your service and and and your want to go to the extremes to help people in their most dire needs. And there's very few people that will do that. And and kudos to you and and your service heart and and your want to extend yourself, to put yourself in basically in harm's way to help people. And and that's what it's about. I mean, our I as you know, I'm I'm Canadian citizen by birth, but I'm a proud American. I got my American citizenship years ago. And I just have to admire our our military and and how they put themselves out there. And you're you're a perfect uh example and a great role model for those of listening today that that also may have an interest in joining the military. And and as you know, I I I usually try to bring military representatives into my class to promote the opportunity for your undergrad or graduate school to be paid for. And I always say do it from do it for love of country, number one. And and you're you you took advantage of all those opportunities. That's that's just fantastic. Just a little bit, don't want to keep you too long, but going back to your trip, uh, your service learning trip, is there anything that that that stands out from the trip that I mean I I know it was years ago that you went on the trip. Can you can you remember uh were you anxious about going on the trip? Was there something significant in the trip and kind of what what does happen in a in a in a normal service learning trip for those that have never been on one before?

What Service Learning Clinics Look Like

Blake 22:25

Yeah, so the the broad overview of those trips, and I'm sure Dr. H, you could summarize this better than I will, but I'll give it, get to the old residency try here. You basically get in the country on day one, you spend about a day after that getting acclimated to the area that you're in, getting to know the local populace a little bit, doing some cultural stuff, that kind of thing. Then after that, you're spending four to five days in a clinic that gets set up in some like location of opportunity to use another military term. So I believe in Costa Rica, we were set up in a church that we cleared a lot of the pews out of. And then in Guatemala the following year, we were set up in what I think could probably best be described like as a community center in a very like rural agrarian like farm town, basically. And while you're in these clinics, you will have people from throughout the village who have had the hope of getting medical care preached to them by ISL representatives and community leaders for months at that point in time. So they know you're coming, they're looking forward to you coming, and they're bringing all of their medical problems to you all at once. As an undergrad on one of these trips, you basically work in teams with a few other students and a translator, and you take a very basic history, you take some very basic vitals, you do a very basic physical exam on these patients. And then, kind of like what you do in the academic medicine setting, you have one of the physicians who's working with you, who most of them, at least in my experience that I got to meet, are from that country and practice locally. They come over, you talk about that patient with them. They have a whole bunch of teaching that they do between the physical exam and the pathology of what they're diagnosing and things of that nature. And then you're able to, with the limited medications that you have, the limited interventions that you have, you're able to send those people home with hopefully something at least that's going to help fix their symptoms. I do remember having a few patients that we had to evacuate to some hospitals while I was there. One that stands out to me and that stands out probably more than any other patient that I saw on either of these trips was in Guatemala. There was a little, I think she was probably about 70 years old, but a seven-year-old woman who came in with an abdominal aortic aneurysm. So basically the big blood vessel that runs through your stomach, it was about to burst, basically. And this woman was all of probably 90 pounds. And I remember specifically, our doctor that we were with got her up on the exam table and was just like, I want you guys to come feel this. I pressed into the middle of her stomach, barely put any pressure on it. And I could just feel like this big, pulsating mass, probably this big around, sitting in her stomach. So this one was quite literally like if she if she coughed wrong, she probably would have bled out into her belly and died. But we were able to catch that, send her to the hospital. And I don't know what happened after that, but I like to think we at least gave her a chance at that point. So things like that, you'll get to see there. You get to see a lot of tropical medicine as well, which is something that you don't really get a ton of exposure to in the United States. A lot of the countries that we do these trips into don't have the strongest sanitation systems and infectious disease there works a little bit differently than it does here. So you'll see some pretty exotic stuff that you might not otherwise have the opportunity to see outside of a medical textbook. So that was really cool. But most importantly, I think it gives you perspective on what it's like to live in a place where you don't have access to first world resources. I remember specifically, and I wrote my medical personal statement partially about this. In Costa Rica, we had a patient that I don't even remember what it was that she had, but basically she needed an antibiotic. And otherwise, she was going to become septic, go into septic shock and die. This antibiotic cost $20 and she didn't have the money to pay for it. One of the students that was there with us pulled the $20 bill out of her pocket, gave it this woman and said, please get the antibiotic. The woman just broke down sobbing, like scream, crying, hugging this girl, like blessing her, blessing her family, all of it. And just like the look of true thanks in that woman's face. I have never seen or experienced anything like that in all the years that I've, all the few years at least, that I've done in medicine at this point. And just in an experience like that really sticks with you. It makes you realize how one, how thankful that you really truly are to live in a place like the United States. But at the same time, it also really reinforces how powerful what we do in medicine is. And if you're on the fence about going into a healthcare field, you see something like that, you see the impact that you can have on people. And it's it's a no-brainer after that. It's the easiest decision that you'll ever make at that point. It makes all of the late night studying and the long days on boards and all the beat down that this job comes with, it makes it all instantaneously worth it because you just can't do that in other places.

Dr. H 27:11

So wow, you've you've got great stories to share. I mean, that that is an amazing story, but the lady with the abdominal aortic aneurysm, as well as the lady that that could have gone into septic shock if it wasn't for the antibiotics. And I I've seen many students on on my trips go through similar situations and scenarios. And and again, going back to what I said earlier, isn't it amazing that one or two instances, situations, scenarios can can change your pathway or confirm what you want to do? I mean, you're a great ambassador for for healthcare, you're a great ambassador for service learning. And on that topic, what would you say to people that are kind of on the fence right now that are concerned that it might be a little too too expensive to go on the trip, or or maybe it's taking them out of their comfort zone from your experience, already having gone through that in your undergrad, a couple of trips under your belt? Now you've gone through med school, you're in your residency, looking back as a sage with the wisdom you've gained in life at this point in time. What would you say to that 16, 17, 18-year-old that's considering going on a trip? And uh, and and how how can you how can you help them to understand how it will help them?

Blake 28:27

Man, I would say that I've had a lot, I've been very blessed to have a lot of really good experiences in healthcare thus far. But easily the trips that I did through ISL were the single two most impactful things I think I've ever done in my life. I had never gone abroad, like other than the Bahamas, I had never gone abroad outside of these trips. And so just the travel experience alone, getting to see what life is like in a different part of the world, that in and of itself makes it worth it. But from a medical perspective and from a learning and just career shaping perspective, you won't get the opportunity to do something like that any other time in your life unless you choose to go on a trip like this or otherwise to do this type of medicine, like ask a doctor one day. Even working, I've worked in plenty of free clinics, plenty of reduced cost clinics, plenty of like government assistance clinics, that kind of thing over the years at this point. And the ability that you have on these trips to contribute to taking disease burden and just life burden away from people that otherwise probably would never be able to see any type of healthcare provider. I can't put into words how impactful that is and how much that will shape your perception of what medicine is. If you're on the fence about going on one of these trips because it's a comfort zone issue, send it. Just send it. Don't look back. Just sign up for it. Go. I promise you, you will not regret it. If nothing else, if you hate the medicine in it, that's totally fine. You got a trip to a really cool country. But you might wind up like me or any of the other students that Dr. H has mentored over the years who let these trips shape not just their professional pathway, but who they are. And experiences like that in life, you don't get that opportunity too often. So just go. If it's a financial issue, I honestly don't know about all the scholarship programs that were out there, but I do know they exist. And I also know in broad strokes that where there's a will, there's a way. And that Dr. H can definitely connect you with some people who can help sponsor you to get down there. But if you're if you're on the fence because you don't know if this is something you want to do, you don't know if it's worth it, that kind of thing. I promise you I would not make this up. I promise you it is.

Two Patients Who Changed Everything

Dr. H 30:57

Well, Blake, I'm excuse me, I'm I'm humbled and honored to consider you a friend. It it's it's such a valuable role that I've been able to have in life where I've not only taught students, but I've been able to travel with them to these developing countries and and work with them in the clinic. And it's that experiential opportunity where faculty and students are working together and you break down so many barriers and and and we become friends. And you know, I wish it was that way with more courses and programs at the university, but it's been a blessing for me as I look back on life now, more so at the age of 70, of the opportunities I've had. And again, as I shared earlier, I can see a little bit of meme in each one of you. And I can see that you're going to be that care provider that's going to be like me and extend yourself to help other people. And, you know, having been in healthcare for 45 plus years, you know, our time is limited. You know, we we have no guarantee on tomorrow. I mean, you've you've mentioned a couple of times you've been blessed, I've been blessed. You know, we need to take advantage of the opportunities we have, mentor the people we can, try to make a difference in the lives of others. And and you you've been doing that all along. I mean, that's that's huge. And you know, your your future patients are going to be very happy to have you as their care provider. And and I I can't even imagine how many lives you're gonna save. And and and looking back on my life, that's that's such a that's such an honor to to to be there, to, to make a difference in someone's life. And and now to see you going through the emergency room residency uh program and and knowing what's coming, that's huge. And I just want to again thank you and uh honor you for your your role in the military and for your role in in healthcare and and and and what you're about to do in your future. And just any last words that you want to share with us, Blake, because I really appreciate your time today.

Why Go Abroad: Cost, Comfort, Courage

Blake 32:59

Well, Dr. Hickey, I echo that sentiment right back to you. I am beyond blessed to have had a mentor in life as committed and as helpful as you have been over the years. There aren't a lot of, I can look back at a lot of people who have helped me over my time, and you are a standout among all of them. So I am beyond grateful and honored that you thought of me to be able to do this interview today. So thank you again for having me and for everything you've done for me over the years. For those who were listening, there's a lot of talk in medicine these days about it not being worth it, or about burnout, or about issues with the system, or just any number of negative things that people have to say. And all of those things are true. I'm not, I'm not going to deny it. Burnout is hard. Medicine is hard. This is a hard, oftentimes thankless job. If you were going into this because you want to make money, or because your parents said that you need to go do something big with your life, like being a doctor. If those are your motivations, this is not the field for you. I promise you. There are a lot of better ways to make money and to make mom and dad proud. But there are very few careers in this world. And I'm biased in saying this in emergency medicine because we're spared a lot of the engineering issues that my colleagues have to deal with. But there aren't many careers in this world where you can show up to work every day with no other purpose than trying to make someone else's life better. And that alone, especially in the world that we live in today, I think is a gift. I see a lot of people who struggle with purpose in their lives, a lot of people who struggle with, you know, wondering if their careers are worth the effort that they put into it. And I am so fortunate to say, without a shadow of a doubt, that everything I've had to sacrifice in medicine to get to this point is so worth it. So if you are scared of that commitment, if you are scared that maybe this isn't for you because of those things that I just mentioned, I promise you, there, even through all of the crap you have to deal with in residency, the double shifts, the 12-hour shifts, not sleeping enough, all of that kind of stuff, it's hard. But what lies on the other side is so unbelievably worth it if you commit yourself to it fully. There's a quote that I've always liked to live by. And it's anything in life worth doing is worth overdoing. And if you can look at the things that you're doing in life with that same perspective, I promise you put yourself into it, put one foot in front of the other and commit 100%, and you will not be disappointed on the other side. So God speed to all of you and good mom.

Dr. H 35:35

I I really appreciate that. I love your looking at the health profession as a gift. I mean, I've um I've I've I've shared for so many years, excuse me, how fortunate I am to have been in the profession in healthcare, but I've never looked at it as a gift. I I like that. I'm gonna use that. It is a wonderful gift that that we've been given. We've worked hard, obviously, to get here and to do what we do. But yeah, what a blessing we both have to be in this wonderful profession. And and as you know, I've I've shared with many students over the years two things that I wish students would have. And it's it's what I have and what I love. And number one, it's I love what I do. And number two, I know I'm making a difference. So again, echoing what you just said, if you can find that future profession, that future path where you love what you do and you know you're making a difference. Obviously, in healthcare, we come to work every day, we want to make a difference in someone's life. That's huge. And we're very blessed, both of us, to be able to be in this profession. Well, Blake, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time. Um, I I know it was hard to carve out this opportunity to speak with us, but it but I do know that for those listening, they're gonna be greatly inspired, as I have been. I mean, I'm gonna replay this and listen to it when I have a bad hair day. I don't have much hair left anyway anymore. But maybe bad beard day. You you've got so so many great experiences. And and uh I I I I can see you in the future being in a similar role as myself, teaching at a university level and and continuing to pay it forward as as you're doing right now. So God bless. Uh thank you for your time and and I wish you the best in in uh your remaining time in school.

Blake 37:13

Well, I appreciate that, Dr. Hickey. And I'm more than happy to provide my like school email to you for anybody who's listening to this to ask questions. Might be a little slow getting back to you because not on the email too much these days, but happy to help anybody that I can moving forward.

Dr. H 37:28

Yeah, I'll include that in the uh information for the uh podcast post. I appreciate that. Absolutely. I really want to sincerely thank our guest Blake for his willingness to join us today on the International Service Learning Experiential Medical Education podcast. But most importantly, I want to thank Blake for the passion that he has shared with us specific to his journey in healthcare. As an emergency room physician in the military, Blake will touch many lives, many of which will survive traumatic injuries due to his interventions. Blake's gift of providing healthcare service is a gift that he'll share with many, and by doing so, many more will live to see another day.