Yes! You Can be a Med Student and Travel the World — Meet Ashley, Northwestern Medical Student and Global Traveller
Where have you traveled to before?
This past couple of years I’ve been really fortunate to travel to many different countries. Since making traveling a priority, I have found myself in spaces that I never would have imagined. My first international trip was to Nigeria to visit family when I was around 12. I didn’t leave the U.S. again for many more years until I visited Tanzania the summer before my sophomore year of college. The summer before junior year I went on a solo trip where I hopped around Western Europe. Soon after I did a study abroad program during my spring semester of junior year where I traveled to India, South Africa, and Brazil. After graduating from college, I landed in Toronto, Canada on a Fulbright scholarship for 9 months. After the fellowship, I traveled to Southeast Asia and visited Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Australia with stops in the UAE and Taiwan. My most recent international trip was this past summer to Portugal, Ghana, and Egypt.
When did your love of travel begin?
Growing up I didn’t travel much. I had a big family and logistically it was difficult for all of us to move together. Being home (and bored to be honest), I would read a lot and imagine being in the places that served as the settings of my favorite books. Eventually, I became kind of obsessed with visiting these different locations and that’s when I promised myself to travel as much as possible when I got older. It’s surreal thinking back to those days because I’ve been able to see places I could only have dreamed of which has been pretty amazing.
What health-related travel trips have you taken?
The summer after my freshman year I traveled to Tanzania for a pre-med program. In my junior spring semester, I did a comparative study abroad program in India, South Africa, and Brazil where I studied public health and medical anthropology. More recently, this past summer I spent a month in Accra, Ghana where I shadowed in the ED and outpatient clinic at a children’s hospital.
Many people think medicine and health and travel are hard to combine — how have you been able to combine your love for all three?
This is a question that I get frequently and my answer is usually that traveling is one of my passions and as such — I’m going to make it happen no matter what.
Even though figuring out logistics for traveling can sometimes be difficult, it doesn’t really seem like I have to force it because it’s something that brings me joy. My trips have either been personal or for academic purposes. I’m lucky that 1) Health/medicine and traveling aren’t hard to combine, especially considering the growing interest in the global health field 2) I’ve received funding for almost all of my academic trips. This has definitely made it easier to integrate traveling into my life. For my personal trips, I use extra funding from internships/grants (90% of the time this is the case!) or my personal funds and I usually plan trips around my school schedule.
How have you been able to integrate traveling into your med school journey?
Medical school is more rigid and it’s a little bit harder to travel frequently as a med student, but I have still found ways around these barriers. First, I must disclose that the medical school I attend provides very generous funding for students interested in going abroad and that’s a large part of the reason why I have traveled/plan on traveling throughout my four years here. I was able to get funding to go to Ghana this past summer which was truly a blessing. My school will fund me for two more international trips before I graduate so I plan on doing two international rotations during my M4 year. I’ve also tried to incorporate some fun personal trips; this past spring break I went to Mexico with some of my friends last year and hope to do another trip for our fall break this upcoming semester.
How do you think your travel experience has made you a better pre-med/med student/future physician?
I find that it’s so easy to get wrapped up in our own versions of reality. One thing I love about traveling is that it’s a reminder that life looks different for everyone and there is so much to be learned from these nuances. I feel that this translates well to the medical field because it’s important to have cultural humility when working with patients from diverse backgrounds. Traveling has taught me many ways to interact with people who may be different from me — whether it be a language barrier or a difference in culture or religion.
Do you have plans to go into global medicine/health in the future?
As of now, I am interested in pursuing global health to some degree in the future but I’m not sure to what capacity. Something I think about is the ethical implications of entering foreign spaces with the expectation that what I could offer would better anyone’s situation. As medical professionals coming from a Western background, we need to be honest about our privilege and interrogate our motivations for wanting to be involved in global health. If anything, I would be interested in being involved in sustainable efforts to improve health outcomes in specific countries (particularly West African) in collaboration with major stakeholders from these countries.
What advice do you have for travel lovers in the health field?
Don’t let people deter you from doing something you’re passionate about. I remember throughout college many people claimed you couldn’t be pre-med and also study abroad. I found that by rearranging my schedule a bit, I was able to go abroad many times throughout my four years. I recommend that if you’re interested in traveling, look for funding to help alleviate the financial burden that travel can sometimes be. I know that money is a crucial barrier for people who would love to travel, but there are so many different ways to fund your travels either through scholarships at your study abroad office, or other fellowships, internships, grants, etc. It’s not easy securing the bag but keep digging through resources and don’t be afraid to reach out to people who might be able to help. This alone has been such a great asset to funding my trips abroad. Traveling isn’t something I’ve ever regretted and I hope that everyone who wants to has the opportunity to experience it!
