Host teaching hospital in AntsirabieClick here to see more photos

Residents at the PGY-2 level or higher are eligible to participate in a developing country/tropical medicine elective, taking place annually, usually in Madagascar.

As a contributing member of the international team, you’ll encounter many valuable learning experiences, including:

• Treating patients with tropical and poverty-related diseases, such as schistosomiasis and malaria, in a third-world setting.
• Learning how to rely on clinical judgment and physical exam and observation skills as you work with limited resources in a technologically impoverished environment.
• Crossing language and cultural barriers to provide patient care. For example, how should you treat a farmer for schistosomaiasis when they must continue to plant rice fields or die of starvation?
• Participating in a reciprocal education process. In return for the rich education our host physicians provide in third-world medicine, you’ll present lectures on the latest first-world medical knowledge and procedural techniques.

Providing patient care, strengthening clinical skills and teaching a medical advancement in a third-world setting broadens residency experience. Many former participating residents state that the elective has given them a new awareness of their patients’ cultural diversity and the poverty-related health issues they see here in Kalamazoo.