As I look back on the time I spent in Zambia, I am very happy that I took the trip. The clinical experience I gained helped me to figure out how global service will fit into my career as a physician. The doctors that led our group served as excellent examples of how to be successful physicians, parents, spouses and humanitarians.
Throughout the first year of medical school, it is easy to lose sight of your career goals and become fixated on immediate academic obstacles. Working in Zambia refocused my attention on the future, and allowed me to enter my second year of school looking forward to my future career rather than dwelling on upcoming exams.
In Zambia, I expected to see pain, suffering, disease and starvation. I expected to find a nation of people in desperate need of help just to meet their basic day-to-day needs. I was surprised to find community after community of happy, welcoming people. I did not come across a single person who seemed to feel that they were underprivileged. It was amazing to see how happy they were with so little, when there are so many people in America that are unhappy with so much.
In the future, I plan to return to Zambia during my clerkship years and again as a physician. The ISI trip opened the door to a career punctuated with global health initiatives.
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