Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone Changed How I See Medicine

A patient waits weeks with a worsening cough, trying herbal tea because a clinic is hard to reach and a hospital visit can cost an entire day of work. That single reality drives so much of what we explore with Leah, a University of South Carolina neuroscience grad and future DO student who’s served on international medical mission trips in Honduras, Costa Rica, Belize, and the Dominican Republic. Her stories aren’t highlight reels. They’re a clear look at what healthcare access actually means when distance, transportation, and time decide whether someone gets help.

We talk through what it’s like to move from participant to leader, including the unglamorous parts people don’t warn you about: upset stomachs, food and water precautions, and the responsibility of making sure students stay safe and supported. Leah also breaks down how strong in-country coordination can make clinics run smoothly, and why understanding local pharmacy norms matters, especially in places where antibiotics may be easier to get than they should be.

Belize becomes a turning point for mentorship and medical education. Leah shares what she learned alongside fourth-year medical students, what surprised her in hospital shadowing, and how quickly you realize that systems and workflows change when resources are limited. We also dig into interpreters, medical Spanish, cultural humility, and the idea that your most sustainable impact often comes through patient education and respect, not just prescriptions.

If global health, international service learning, medical Spanish, osteopathic medicine, and healthcare access are on your mind, this conversation will give you practical insight and honest motivation. Subscribe, share this with a future healthcare professional, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway: what would push you to step outside your comfort zone?

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 And Guest Introduction

Dr. H 0:11

Well, hey there. I'm 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. Well, I'm very excited today to have Leah with us, and just so people know, Leah and I have history. I think we've known each other for three or four years. I believe. I apologize. As I get older, the cobwebs are a little thicker, and I can't remember the timelines as well. But Leah is uh a veteran of uh service learning trips. She's a graduate of the University of South Carolina. She's got a great pathway ahead of her, and she'll be sharing some of that with us. But Lee, if you don't mind uh just starting out, just tell us uh a little bit about yourself. You know, how did you come to the University of South Carolina? What was your your major coming into the University of South Carolina? What was your intent? Were you pre-med, pre-PA, and did you follow through on that intent?

Choosing USC And Pre-Med Path

Leah 1:41

Yeah, so I'm originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. I ultimately decided to go to the University of South Carolina, not really on a whim, but during spring break of my senior year, I toured both South Carolina and Ohio State in the same week, which I felt like really helped to see the schools back to back. And I decided to push myself outside of my comfort zone. I knew what I had at home. And a really close teacher of mine was like, you should leave if you can, just because you always know what you'll have here, but you'll never know if you don't leave it. And so that ultimately ended up pushing me to go to the University of South Carolina. I came in as an incoming freshman doing neuroscience as my major, and I ended up completing my neuroscience bachelor's degree in December of 2025 and a minor in medical humanities and culture, which was amazing. I knew that I was pre-health and I knew that I wanted to do pre-med specifically, just based on the doctors and the formulative experiences that I've had in my past. And I stuck it through. I did all the pre-medical stuff. I joined research labs. I did volunteering at in the NICU. I obviously went on some service trips, a couple of them, and I I loved every single one of them and could talk about them forever. And now I'm hopefully, well, I am now gonna go to medical school in the fall at VCom Carolina. So I'm very excited.

Dr. H 2:59

Well, thanks for sharing that, Leah. It's interesting that you toured both the school in Ohio and USC on spring break, and you picked USC. I imagine our spring break weather in South Carolina was much better than your spring break weather back home.

Leah 3:16

Definitely, definitely.

Dr. H 3:19

That's been a big, a big factor in many people coming to the University of South Carolina, especially on the on the Northeast Coast. But we're we're very glad you you you made that that choice and and and got out of your comfort level. I like what your teacher said actually. Uh that that that's that's kind of interesting concept. You know what you've got here. You're not going to know what's elsewhere unless you step into that area or that zone or step outside your comfort zone, which which is indicative of people going on service learning trips. I mean, they step outside their comfort loan. So you alluded that you've been on some service learning trips. Tell us about those. I mean, I I I know you, so I I know you've done a few, but what was your initial service learning trip?

First Service Trip In Honduras

Leah 4:03

So the first one I went on was actually with Capstone Scholars here at the University of South Carolina. They kind of put it out, I think fall of my sophomore year, that they were going to do a service learning trip to Honduras. And then I ended up choosing to go on that one just because it had come across my email and was like, that's a good opportunity for me. I kind of want to see what international medicine looks like. I didn't know what really kind of bubble I lived in until I left it, especially in Honduras. And it was definitely a very formulative experience for me, just because after going on that trip, I knew it was something that I wanted to continue pursuing to do if I had the means to do so every year. And I've kind of stuck to that ever since then. And I hope that I can continue to do it throughout medical school.

Dr. H 4:45

Now your second trip was with Phi DE, is that correct?

Costa Rica Clinics And Access Gaps

Dr. H 4:49

And tell us about that. Yes, to Costa Rica. Tell us about that trip.

Leah 4:52

Yeah. So I went with a group of about 24, 25 students with Phi Delta Epsilon here at the University of South Carolina, which is a medical fraternity for anyone who doesn't know. And we went to Alahuela, Costa Rica. Um, I had actually been there previously for Global Health as a May Mester at the University of South Carolina. So I was kind of familiar with the area, but not the specific communities that we went to. A lot of the areas that we went to were rural, but still like in the city, but they didn't have means to get to hospitals. It would take them hours to get there and it'd be a whole day venture for them to do. So that's kind of where I really saw the meaning of doing these service trips, just because it's something easier for the families to get to in and out of, and also continue to do their jobs that makes livelihood for their families.

Dr. H 5:39

Now I know when I've done trips to Costa Rica before, we've taken care of Nicaraguan refugees. Was that your experience also?

Leah 5:46

Yeah, there were, yeah, there were definitely one of the communities that we went to is definitely mainly Nicaraguans. And that was that was also super impactful just because you you typically think that it would just be Costa Ricans or, you know, just people in the area, but you are dealing with a bunch of different patient populations and different different people. So that was cool.

Dr. H 6:05

I guess one thing you shared was was the the the big overall scheme of access to health care. It seems that access to healthcare is international. Has that been your experience?

Leah 6:17

Yeah, I think access to healthcare is super important and it's needed everywhere, not just in Latin American countries like I've seen, but definitely here in the United States. I know that there's a need for access to healthcare for sure. But I'm I'm not sure if that fully answered your question.

Dr. H 6:33

But if you have to do that, that's good. No, no. Just that you saw the challenge, because you you're right. Access to healthcare is a huge challenge internationally. And here in the United States, you know, we we say we have the best healthcare system in the world. I believe we have the the most expensive healthcare system in the world, but access to healthcare is very problematic, especially if you're rural populations, is what you saw in some of the developing countries. Now, what was your most recent uh service earning trip?

Leading A Dominican Republic Mission

Leah 7:03

I actually just led a medical mission trip with PhiDE to the Dominican Republic.

Dr. H 7:08

So Well, tell us what that's like being a leader, because you've been on on true trips before as a student. Now you're a leader. What what's what's the difference from the leader perspective? And how challenging is it to put together a service learning trip?

Leah 7:26

I thought international service learning made it quite easy to organize, and I I kind of promoted it at chapter, which was really easy for me to get students' interest and stuff like that. Everything from pre-departure trips and meetings were super well organized. I met with in-country coordinators and also the team leader there. They were both phenomenal. And then everything from when we got into the country was super well organized through the in-country coordinator there, Evelyn. She was amazing. But just my experience as a leader, it was really nice to see all the students have their love for international medicine like I did so many years ago. I thought it was really cool, full a really awesome full circle moment for me just because how impactful it is to for me to like go out and do these service trips, but then to watch people for the first time like finally find their love for it and like continue doing this service work like I just did. So it was definitely super cool just to see that full circle.

Dr. H 8:23

Now, when I was a leader on these trips, Leah, I had to sleep with one eye open all the time because I was always always concerned that something might happen in the night time, someone would get sick or there'd be any challenges. Did you have any of those experiences?

Leah 8:38

We did. We did have a couple of kids kind of have upset tummies midway through. And that's to be expected, I feel like when you leave the United States, especially if it is your first time traveling outside the US, they use different water, they use different, different methods of cooking. And if you have sort of a sensitive stomach, sometimes that can happen. And so, yeah, we did have a couple of people get sick midway through the week. And I think like that was the first time for me where I was like, okay, everyone like we should be eating cooked food, like just be mindful about where you're what you're doing. I always brush my teeth with like a water bottle, but like that was just for me. The water was portable and like there was no issues with that where we were staying, but just kind of being mindful in that way. But I also, you know, was just not something that I was fully expecting to have happened, but I was definitely ready for it when it did.

Dr. H 9:28

Now, how did ISL intercede? What was that process like if a pay if a patient, if a student who is a patient, I guess if they're feeling sick, what was what was their methods? What did they do to help you?

Leah 9:39

Yeah. So when the first student got sick, Evelyn, our in-country coordinator, actually ended up going to the pharmacy, which is really cool. I know that we talked about this before, but the pharmacy's there, they have a plethora of medicines that you can get without even actually seeing a doctor. You can go in and you can tell the pharmacist this is what I have, these are my symptoms, and they'll give you what they think is the best course of medication for them. So Evelyn that day, when she had heard that one particular student being sick, went in and got some medication for him and made sure that he was okay throughout the day. I was constantly checking in on him, making sure that he didn't need lunch. I also offered to stay back, and so did Evelyn. It wasn't just me, but ISL personnel there were super, super helpful whenever anyone would get sick, would take people back from clinics if they were not feeling well, because obviously if you're hot and muggy and you're also not feeling well, like nauseous, you don't want to be where there's no AC. So she took one student back from a clinic as well just because she wasn't feeling well.

Dr. H 10:36

Um now, if a doctor needed to see the students, you've got doctors right there. Is that correct?

Leah 10:41

Yes, we worked with two doctors. That's great.

Dr. H 10:44

Now you've been on another trip also. You were on the inaugural med student gap year student trip. Tell us about that one.

Leah 10:51

Yeah.

Belize Mentorship And Hospital Realities

Leah 10:52

So we went to Belize in February, and this was a cool trip in the sense of it was something that I hadn't really done before because we were able to go with medical students and medical students from the University of South Carolina, Columbia here. And I thought that that was super formulative in my experience of doing service learning trips just because I was able to learn a lot more because these med students were just coming off of medical school. So they had like all the knowledge at the front of their brain, just ready to like give to us and teach to us while we were abroad. And then we also got to shadow. So I've never done that internationally in a hospital, and that was amazing. It was really cool to actually see the ins and outs of what global medicine looks like from an international perspective and not just the hospital system here.

Dr. H 11:37

What was it like being mentored by these fourth-year med students?

Leah 11:41

Yeah, so we were all paired up with one medical student, but we didn't have to necessarily stay with that medical student if you wanted to do different things. But each one of the medical students had a specific interest. And then Gabby, the trip leader, matched us up based on what our interests were. And Rafi was actually my mentor and he was amazing. He was really good about just answering all, not just mine, but all of the Gap Year students' questions about applying to medical school and being in medical school and like what are some good things to have when you go or like to do proactively before you even get there, which was super nice.

Dr. H 12:14

What a great experience to have a fourth-year med student who you aspire to be filling in their shoes at some point in time, reach out to you and educate you. Now you also had an opportunity where you were able to mentor, I believe, Belize and med students.

Leah 12:29

Yeah.

Dr. H 12:30

Tell us about that experience.

Leah 12:32

Yeah, one of the days which was completely unexpected, but um one of the doctors that we were working with also works with a med stud a med school there in Belize. And so they brought a handful of them, and it was like their first semester kind of starting medical school. But the way that they do it is a little bit different. Like they kind of go straight from high school into medical school. So some a lot of them were younger than I was, um, like 19, 20, some of them were 18, just coming out of high school. And so we were able to, they had never done like any rural clinic or any of that. So we were kind of showing them the ins and outs of like, this is how we do triage and this is how we bring a patient back. And like it was super cool to be able to, you know, talk with them and get to hear about their experiences with like applying and how different it is from the United States.

Dr. H 13:16

That's that's great that you were able to do that because know that one of the many hats you're gonna wear as a future doctor is that of educators. So you'll be doing a lot of education and you've already seen what that looks like. Tell us about your hospital tour. You you said you you hadn't had a hospital rotation. What was the hospital like compared to uh what you've seen in the United States?

Leah 13:36

Yeah, so we did at least for me personally, I did internal medicine that day, which was cool because we got to see the patients that come in and the doctor also spoke pretty good English. And it was funny because he was like, you know, like surgeons think that they save people's lives, but I do the real saving in here because like I do all the monitoring of like all the health stuff longitudinally. But he was awesome in explaining everything that came through. I also got to shadow in the emergency department, which was really interesting in the trauma room. I think the most interesting thing that I saw that day was someone came in for a trauma case and their medications like aren't in the trauma room, but the emergency department is like a couple of feet away. And if they needed like medication, like morphine or something like that for someone, they would have to run to a lockbox, unlock it with the key and get the medication, and then run back to the trauma room with the medication. So it's not all right there, which was really surprising to me because I think like when I think of emergency or trauma and someone's coming in and they're in pain, you're not gonna have that medication for them right away. You're gonna have to go out and do these extra steps. And it was it was quite a bit away in the emergency department from the trauma room. So that was surprising to me.

Dr. H 14:57

Yes, that is correct. So by my count, you've been on SurSlearing trip to Honduras, Costa Rica, Belize, and Dominican Republic. Is that correct? That is correct. Wow, you're an international person. Now Yeah, I love travel. Now you you you shared already that you're gonna be going to VCOM.

Why A DO Program Fits

Dr. H 15:17

Do they have any opportunities for you to continue your interest in international health care at VCOM?

Leah 15:25

Yeah, so VCOM actually their theirselves, their mission is completely to make globally minded physicians, and part of that is international medicine. So they do like to go to places like the Dominican Republic and Honduras and other Latin American countries and be able to serve out there for a good bit of time. I do know that we have this thing called Remediation Week, which is after our blocks, if you pass a block, you you can do whatever you want with that week. So you can go home, you can go on vacation, but they also do really promote service learning trips during that week, just because you do have free time. And if you're able to, you you should go out and serve others. So they do promote that. And then during your fourth year, when you have a little bit more free time, they also promote a four-year or a four-week rotation abroad in Latin America.

Dr. H 16:09

And Leah, just for those that are listening, the VCOM program is a DO program, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. Are you able to share a little bit about your decision process on MD versus DO and what made the DO program sound more exciting to you?

Leah 16:26

I think for me personally, especially with the service heart that I have and also just going out on these international service learning trips, I think osteopathic medicine, I really like that it's holistic, that you're looking not only just at what the patient comes in and presents, but what are the reasons that the patient is coming in and presenting these symptoms? You look at the environment, you look at the social aspects, you look at their diet, sleep, exercise, all of that. And if you're able to change something that might be causing these symptoms before even prescribing a medication, why would you not want to go ahead and do that? Just because things that come with medication are side effects and you just don't know how it's going to react with someone. And so I like that the holistic mindset, the holistic mindset of looking at mind, body, and spirit, but then also to the OMM component, which for those of you who don't know, it's osteopathic manipulative medicine, where we're kind of taught with our hands how to treat different musculoskeletal symptoms and stuff like that and work out some of the pains that you may be having with our hands. So I like that I'll always have my hands with me. And if I'm able to make someone better without anything else but just my hands, it's a good tool for me to have.

Dr. H 17:36

Well, I hope after you're done school, you're gonna be somewhere close because I've got this chronic neck pain that I could really use your your hands on. And work it out, yeah. Well, that's great. Um, knowing what I know about international service learning and and service learning trips seems like such a natural fit to go from doing these service trips abroad to a DO program. I mean, that that's great that you made that connection. Now, with all the trips you've been on, wow, you've seen so many patients. I mean, I I we could go on and on and on, but are are is there anyone or any situation that that really lives with you that you can remember that that made a difference in your life and and you made a difference in their life?

A Patient Moment That Sticks

Leah 18:19

Yeah, I actually think the one that we went on to the Dominican a couple weeks ago, I think that I felt like I made the most impact on this patient's life. They came in and they they had like your common like cold and flu symptoms, but it had been going on for weeks, getting worse at night. Like weeks, like eight weeks, like two months. It's been going on for a while. And the only thing that he said he had been treating it with was herbal tea. So a lot of the times in these Latin American communities, they'll use different like herbs and like different spices and stuff like that to see if they can help, you know, get rid of whatever it is that they have. Obviously, the herbal tea wasn't helping, so that's why he came in to the clinic. And I felt like that was the first time that I was able to also make an impact on his life because we were able to prescribe medications and they treat based on symptom down there as well. So it's not like, oh, we're gonna diagnose him with the common flu or common cold. Like it's like, oh, he has a cough. Oh, he has a headache, like we're gonna give him some avil. And like just like things like that you'll treat based on symptom. And when we said that we were able to give him some medication that would help him, the smile on his face literally made like my entire week. It was the first time that I think I had actually noticed that I was making a difference in these people's lives and like one that I saw a direct result of.

Dr. H 19:29

That's great that you're able to do that and and to help them in that way. Now, do you really feel? I mean, you you you said you've you felt that that was the first time you've been on lots of trips. I'm sure you've really made a difference in a lot of people's lives. How do you feel that you made the most of a difference? Because, you know, my my my challenge when I would go on my trips is the students would come in to see me a week or two after we got back, and they felt that the medications we prescribed just as you indicated, or the treatments we rendered were were done by now. It'd been like two weeks since we left. What do you feel was was most important in your interactions that was long lasting after you left?

Leah 20:11

I 100% believe it was the education behind it. The doctors did an amazing job at educating the patients and how to stop this from recurring. Like we talked about with the pharmacies, you're able to get antibiotics over the counter. And if people think that they have a stuffy nose, they automatically think it's a bacterial infection and will take an antibiotic. Me and you both know that that can cause antibiotic resistance, and that's not a good thing long term for countries as a whole. So every time that patients would come through, doctors and us would educate the patient based on why this is bad to be doing if you just have a stuffy nose and it hasn't been going on for a while, or you didn't see a doctor to go get an antibiotic. But 100% the education is something that sticks with the patient and that we'll remember that long term.

Dr. H 20:52

How have your multiple trips internationally helped you with your future plans? You know, how do you how do you anticipate that you'll be using the experiences that you learned on these trips as a future healthcare provider?

Leah 21:10

I think it made me realize, like we talked about the bubble thing, but I think it made me realize that everyone comes from a different place and not everything is as easy as it seems. Like for me, it's easy for me to go to an urgent care or CVS minute clinic if I have something wrong with me. But like I said, these patients, they'll walk hours to go to a hospital and that'll take the whole day, and they don't have the whole day to be wasting. And so I think for me, just looking at that and looking at the fact that we're not all the same and that everyone has a different situation is important to realize and have that sort of cultural humility when people walk through your door and coming into a doctor's office.

Interpreters And Medical Spanish Confidence

Dr. H 21:48

Now, when you were in these countries, I'm sure at some point in time you had to use an interpreter because you had a language barrier. Tell us about that process where I mean, was it foreign to you? Having an interpreter? Were you prepared for it? And how was that process? Was it challenging?

Leah 22:07

The interpreters were great that we had on every single trip that I've had. You get a sheet when you go on these trips to kind of speak a little bit of Spanish and you know, like practice because like that's important as well. That was one of the main reasons I wanted to go on these trips was to improve my medical Spanish. Um, but it's always nice knowing that you have the interpreter there just because you're not fluent. And I feel like I would do, I would be doing the patient a disservice to act like I was, and then wouldn't be getting all the correct information, especially because in different communities they have different terms for what they use for different things. And it might be completely different from another community. And I would have no idea even if I did speak fluent Spanish, but only someone from that community would know. And so we had community healthcare workers a lot also do translating, and that was nice because they knew the patients. And so that helped with the patients being a little bit more open about their symptoms and what they were feeling.

Dr. H 22:58

I'm glad that you shared that you wanted to reinforce or practice your medical Spanish. Because as you know, moving forward, at some point in time, you're probably going to have a Hispanic patient somewhere in the healthcare setting. And even if you know a little bit, it goes a long way. And what is your level of Spanish right now?

Leah 23:18

I would say that my mom's from Panama. So I've kind of grown up with a little bit of Spanish around me, but I would say that I can understand it pretty well. It's definitely gotten better since going on these service trips, especially my medical Spanish. Like I can always group my I could always greet my patients and I can always say, hi, my name is so-and-so. I'm from the United States, and I'm here to help you today. What brings you in? But that being said, like I wouldn't know specific terms for specific things, but I definitely did learn a lot more being on these trips.

Dr. H 23:49

Should students worry if they don't have any medical Spanish?

Leah 23:55

Absolutely not. You're given a sheet, and we also do a Spanish lesson the week or the day, first day that we get there at orientation, we do a little Spanish class. Evelyn led it this year and she was amazing at it. And we just kind of all like repeated and we practiced with partners speaking Spanish before we even went into the clinics. But if you're also nervous about speaking Spanish, like you'll always have a translator there 100% of the time.

Skills Growth And Sustainable Global Health

Dr. H 24:17

Do you feel that your clinical skill sets and your comfort level with assessing patients has increased because of going on these trips?

Leah 24:27

100%. You're taking vitals with each patient and you're rotating between students so everyone gets a chance at doing it. We also did a skills clinic when we got there. And pre-departure, we also did a skills clinic with the uh School of Medicine in Columbia.

Dr. H 24:42

I imagine going into med school, you're gonna be so much further ahead than most of your colleagues because of the fact that you've been able to do this. You're you're kind of sort of an ambassador for global health because of all your trips and and of course because of your service heart. What do you believe is the most sustainable and impactful way that people can contribute to global health?

Leah 25:04

I think the most sustainable way to contribute to global health, I think, would be going on these trips and supporting the staff down there and you know continuing to do these trips because a lot of the times, you know, like we go in for one week and then we'll leave. But like multiple groups are going in there and doing this throughout the year. And so like obviously that helps increase access, like we were talking about, where there's so much of a need for it, but also to advocating for resources down while you're in Latin America, but also here, just to be able to, you know, have those community health workers go out to the community and see these patients every week, even though they're not able to get to the hospital. And just, you know, healthcare policy is so important, especially in the global health realm, and just being able to advocate for your future patients.

Dr. H 25:49

For students that are thinking about going on a trip that are listening and and and don't realize the value, what would you share with them? I I I know in my experience of doing this for almost 20 years, there have been a few that that maybe have done it, I would hate to say, but I guess maybe for the wrong reason, because it looks good on the resume. But what would you share as far as their concerns about language and culture and food and and and the cost? What would you share about the value of going on these trips?

Leah 26:20

I think it is 110% worth it. I mean, I've obviously shared that it changed my life. And if I continue to have the means to do so, the money to do so, I will 110% be giving my money to it just because I believe in these programs so much. Um, you get so much experience, not just through the patients, but also working with the doctors and working with local nurses and translators and just your team itself. You get so close going out there and you learn how to really work in a team even before going to medical school, which is really important. But I 110% believe stepping outside your comfort zone. And even though you may be a little scared to do it, it's super important to go do. And like I said, I went on one and I've been on three others, and I continue to want to go on these trips just because I believe in them so much. And it really shows out, especially like through past interview season, I was able to talk about these service trips and like I've had interviewers comment and say, I know that this is important to you just based on how your face lights up. And I feel like people that go into it for the wrong reasons, you can automatically tell, like, that's they weren't in it for the right reasons.

Dr. H 27:23

So I agree with you, Leah. I've seen many personal statements of of students that are going to med school, and and when they note their experience internationally, it really makes them stand out. And and it's their passion that makes them stand out. And for those, as you say, that are doing it for the right reason. Yeah, that that's that's great. And and I appreciate you sharing that. What a wonderful opportunity that you've had. Hopefully, other people will be able to share that experience by going on these trips. I'm really glad that you brought up the teamwork aspect and working with healthcare teams. And when I started this 20 years ago, I intentionally put together pre-med, pre-PA, pre-pharmacy, pre-OTPT students together to go as undergrads because my thought process at the time was if I can get you to work together as undergrads as a team, after you go to grad school, we throw you in a hospital. Hopefully you'll be able to function better as a team at that point, too. And you've already had that team experience, which is which is great. Well, Leah, thank you so much for sharing your experiences. We could go on and on and on because of all your experience, but I think you really hit the nail on the head about service and and service heart. What your teacher told you in high school has resonated through your life. Step out of your comfort zone. You already know what you've got here. You don't know what's there, so why not go there and experience it? Perfect message to send to those listening. Thank you so much for your time.

Leah 28:52

Thank you for having me.

Dr. H 28:53

My pleasure. I want to sincerely thank our guest Leah for her willingness to join us on the International Service Learning Experiential Medical Education podcast. But most importantly, I want to thank Leah for the passion that she has shared with us. Leah is a great ambassador for international service learning, and I'm hopeful that by sharing the details from her service learning trips, she will inspire other students to step out of their comfort zones to pursue similar opportunities.