A Pre-Med Internship in Morelia, Mexico
After having lived in Mexico for three months, I can see that this trip has touched me profoundly; I have grown not only professionally and socially, but personally as well.
The truth is I had no idea what I was asking for when I applied for the premed internship working in the IMSS hospital in Morelia, Mexico. After spending so many years studying Spanish in the classroom and taking the prerequisite classes for medical school, I decided to go to Mexico to improve my Spanish-speaking skills and earn hands-on experience in a hospital. Initially, it seemed like the ideal opportunity to leave my familiar life behind to experience another world. After having lived in Mexico for three months, I can see that this trip touched me profoundly; I have grown not only professionally and socially, but personally as well.
For the student, there is no better place to learn than the social security hospital in Morelia. It is the largest hospital in the city, so the vast variety of clinical cases is priceless. I heard from doctors working in the hospital, that although the pay was lower than other hospitals, the plethora of infirmities present provided the physicians the chance to learn more than anywhere else in the city. For me, the patient contact and the hospital staff gave me a realistic view of the responsibilities of healthcare providers as well as the complexity of the human body.
In the ten weeks that I spent in the hospital, I spent two week in Internal Medicine, a month in the Operating Room, two weeks in the Emergency Room, and two weeks in Gynecology/ Obstetrics. While rotating in these wards, I also came into contact with the Neo-Natal Unit, Radiology, the Blood Bank, the Laboratory, Logistics, and Ambulatory Services. I was able to scrub diabetic feet, draw blood, insert a Foley catheter, scrub in for surgery, suture, recognize typical symptoms of a heart attack, and measure the diameter of a woman’s cervix while in labor. This wasn’t passive observing and learning. I was learning by doing. And this list is just a small part of what I saw. Although I had had plenty of hospital experience before coming, both as a volunteer in a children’s hospital and as an employee in a Parkinson’s clinic, I never had the opportunity to actually become involved in a patient’s treatment until I went to Mexico. And though I had to get up really early in morning (usually about 5:45am), I woke up every morning excited to go to work. There were nights when I didn’t go out with friends because I knew it was more important for me to get a good night sleep and be rested for the next day. It never bothered me that I was missing out on Morelia nightlife. My mindset was always that I came to Mexico to learn about the world of medicine.
Because I enjoyed each day so thoroughly, I considered it worthwhile to pass up social events. As I think back now on the memories that I have of the hospital, I am ecstatic because I know that the very things I loved about working in the hospital in Morelia are the same ones I will love about the career I have chosen. As I apply to medical schools this coming summer, I have no doubt that I want to be a physician and practice medicine. I also have no doubts concerning my abilities to be a good doctor. That is not an egotistical statement. It’s just that now that I have a deeper understanding of my own ability to adapt in difficult situations, work well with others, memorize new and foreign concepts, and be fascinated by so many things that I am more sure of myself now than I used to be.
Today, I can see the transformation that has taken place, a young student with dreams to study medicine has become a student who is now equipped with the necessary tools to start the journey toward becoming a physician.