Program Reviews

I spent 4 weeks living in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico and exploring the foundations of traditional medicine. I chose to travel to Oaxaca because of my connection to traditional medicine and my interest in cultural anthropological studies. As a physician, I hope to incorporate elements of traditional medicine into my practice, and I have a particular fascination with how different cultures integrate western and alternative medicines into one system for healing.

My experience with CFHI allowed me to compare the uses of traditional medicine practices in Oaxaca to the understanding of integrative medicine and traditional practices in the United States. I am so incredible grateful for the opportunity to learn in such an expansive and lively city. Being able to immerse myself in the Oaxacan culture was an experience I will never forgot and will only continue to inform my practice as a physician during residency. I improved my medical and conversational Spanish to the point of intermediate learner and was able to engage in learning that was entirely in Spanish. I learned so much about the traditional medicine practice in Oaxaca and different herbs that I can continue to learn about and utilize in my medical practice. I developed a deeper understanding of the interactions between traditional medicine and hospital medicine to inform my practice as an integrative medicine – family medicine physician. I also immersed myself in the Oaxacan culture and food and found a deeper appreciation for the way of life present in Oaxaca. I am so grateful I applied for this program and will continue to draw on experiences from this journey for the rest of my life.

Oaxaca is a food city and is known for its unique and delicious cuisine, so do not hesitate to explore and try the different foods that it has to offer.

This experience is perfect for those curious about global health and looking to further their knowledge through the lens of a particular country. During the program, you have the opportunity to learn from the perspective of your program host and create a relationship both with the host and your classmates, who all bring valuable perspectives. The program also allows the opportunity to collaborate with students from other programs and backgrounds, which creates a wonderful atmosphere to learn about some important general topics in global health. Each expert was engaging and welcoming, inspiring creativity and curiosity in all students! I felt comfortable to ask my program host anything and feel comfortable to reach out after the program about more opportunities for furthering my knowledge. I would recommend this program to someone with a hunger to know what the field of global health is all about, and to those who want to open their minds to health care in a global context

I always dreamed and yearned to leave the country for study or internships while I was in college. At the beginning of August, I was finally given the chance to travel to Ghana with CFHI, not just for a practicum but also to take in the sights of a different nation. I merely adored it. I was quite nervous and eager because I was traveling to a nation where I didn't know anyone, but I realized that this was an opportunity for me to overcome my introversion.

Contrary to my expectation, I adjusted quickly since the CFHI made sure a coordinator and a preceptor were present for each step we took. Yes, there were instances when we solved problems on our own; that was also a valuable part of the experience. I improved my freedom and started to operate with less guidance. I had a great time and learned a lot during my rotations at Princess Marie Luis Hospital. In the classes I took at Liberty University, I came into contact with and experienced all the health facts I had learned. Through my interactions with others, I developed cultural sensitivity, but I never saw myself as superior to them. Instead, I learned to value the beauty in our differences. I also gained cultural humility as a result. I will always be grateful to CFHI for this transformation, and I eagerly anticipate traveling to other places with them. This program has my recommendation.

I never thought virtual experience can be this enriching until I participated in the internship program by CFHI. They made sure to make this virtual space the most engaging and interacting one. Everything starting from the correspondence, timely response and process of selection is highly appreciable. The program, discussions and content gave me Public and Global Health perspectives from a lens I had never imagined. This experience had definitely added value to my professional and academic journey by allowing me to explore different health care systems in an innovative manner. I had the opportunity to: Virtually engage with different countries and health care systems added value to my existing knowledge and experience, Self paced learning and activities provided the time of self reflection and evaluation and helped me design my own pathway towards work in domain of public and global health issues, and More time to interact with fellows and colleagues from different demographic regions created opportunities for more networking and socializing.

I had the wonderful opportunity to expand my knowledge and awareness about cultural differences, and how to have better interpersonal communication. They provided me with great tools to learn about professionalism and intercultural effectiveness within the global health field during my 4-week virtual internship. I really enjoy the space they created for us to meet doctors and professionals from all over the world to bring awareness to disparities within health systems and global issues. Their realities and how it is important to dig deeper to understand how we can make a change was a great start to learning how to support my own community. I enjoyed learning about my country of choice from home and found it very meaningful to learn about its culture and traditions. I feel more confident now approaching and communicating with people from different backgrounds and plan to use the tools from CFHI throughout my career working internationally.

Prior to the program, I had never had the opportunity to travel alone and never really got to explore healthcare in other countries even though I always had interest in global/public health. Before CFHI, I didn’t know who to ask or where to go in order to find shadowing opportunities overseas that would allow me to learn about medicine and culture. I learned about CFHI at the UC Davis Pre-Health Conference during two lecture sessions about global health (one anecdotal and one from the program on ethics) and I knew immediately that this program was what I had been looking for.

Dr. Jenny was even kind enough to exchange her contacts with me for a one on one zoom call where she talked to me and my friend for 2 hours about all our concerns post-COVID. The program even granted me the Community College Scholarship to help my family with the cost.

I learned quickly the best way to reach the staff is by email pre-departure, though information on logistics could be more readily available, sooner released, or clearer. The application and training is very straightforward.

The entire month in Puerto Escondido passed by too soon. I loved my clinic placements! The doctors, nurses, “chemicos,” and entomologist I met were all willing to teach and they are super sweet. I definitely find that you need to be willing to step out of your comfort zone, ask questions, and come in with an open mind. Anything I asked was answered in detail. Clinics themselves had a limited scope of practice focused on prevention, metabolic disease, and there was a lot of visits on women’s health, mostly prenatal care and family planning. Between the clinics and Spanish class, I learned how Mexico organized their medical care in the public sector, public programs, culture, and from many conversations with medical professionals and my professor, what is working and what needs to be done. The medical staff, including Dra. Isabela the Medical Director, even helped me learn in depth about violence against women in Mexico (an issue I want to address in the future as a doctor). When when things were slow, the doctors would explain the procedures we had done and taught us to take blood pressure (of course only taking hers and a fellow CFHI student to practice).

In terms of the homestay, I was blessed to be placed with a sweet older lady who cooked bomb foods, mixing it up with traditional stewed meats to steamed veggies and rice when my roommate had gotten sick. The host sister even invited us to her birthday, took me out my first few days, and everyone made sure we got our conversations in.

This being said, the experience is what you make of it and what you put in, you get out. For me, it was everything I could ask for.

As a medical student, I had an amazing experience with CFHI. I had thoroughly researched global learning experiences prior to choosing CFHI, as I wanted a program that was committed to doing global health work and teaching students in a sustainable and culturally-appropriate way. I felt like CFHI truly prioritized the wellness of the local communities they were in and were very cognizant to avoid the common pitfalls of volontourism, lack of sustainability, and the white savior complex. I couldn't have been more right.

From the start, the CFHI staff were kind, responsive, and cared about my personal needs as a program participant. They helped me identify a scholarship (the AMSA Global Health Scholarship) that helped fund my entire global experience. While I originally planned to participate in the on-site Global Health and Intensive Spanish Program in Quito, Ecuador, the program was unfortunately cancelled last minute due to unforseen political circumstances. Even though the situation evolved rapidly only days before we were set to leave for Quito, I could tell how much the CFHI team cared about prioritizing the well-being of the local community and not placing extra burden on that community with our visit, as well as protecting student safety. The team was communicative and quick in these stressful circumstances, and I ended up switching my scholarship to the Virtual version of this program.

My virtual experience was nothing short of incredible. While I was doubtful that it could fulfill the my expectations in the same way that an on-site program would, CFHI did an incredible job of choosing local experts to speak to us on global health issues and medical ethics. We were assigned a local Spanish teacher from Quito. I had minimal Spanish knowledge before - after 6 weeks of this course, I feel like participating in this program has vastly accelerated my learning in a way that would have taken months or years during a normal academic year.

Participating in this experience has helped me take the first steps in becoming a more culturally-competent physician. I also plan to continue learning Spanish, with the goal of hopefully helping Spanish-speaking patients feel more comfortable if I am their provider. I could not thank CFHI enough and would highly recommend this program to anyone in the medical field or not.

Child Family Health International understands how to lead the nation in global health experiences in an ethical and educational manner. They value the local community, and work to partner with them so that participants can recieve a full cultural immersion. I shadowed in different clinics each morning, learning about the Mexican healthcare and insurance systems. I learned so much from observing the local healthcare providers and engaging in open conversations with them! In the afternoons, I took Spanish classes that were tailored towards medical vocabulary. Our evenings and weekends were free to explore the wonderful city of Oaxaca and make memories that would last a lifetime! I felt safe, supported, and encouraged my entire time abroad. I learned so much more than a classroom could have ever taught me and my Spanish improved immensly. This experience changed my life and made me a better human, as well as a better future physician. I learned empathy, independence, and adventure and I cannot wait to continue exploring the world of global health!

I never thought virtual experience can be this enriching until I participated in the internship program by CFHI. They made sure to make this virtual space the most engaging and interacting one. Everything starting from the correspondence, timely response and process of selection is highly appreciable. The program, discussions and content gave me Public and Global Health perspectives from a lens I had never imagined. This experience had definitely added value to my professional and academic journey by allowing me to explore different health care systems in an innovative manner. I can't thank them enough for the opportunity and the hard work they do in making this experience valuable for students.

I was fortunate to be a part of the CFHI program in Argentina. This program was an immersive experience that provided me with invaluable information about Global Healthcare and specifically the culture and practices of medicine in Argentina. Going into the program, I knew I was going to be placed in hospitals. However, I was unaware of just how supportive the CFHI staff was going to be, they truly made my experience the best it could possibly have been. CFHI provided incredible hosts families that made me feel at home and welcome in my month spent across the world. They also talked closely with the coordinators in the hospital to make sure each student was taken care of based on their individual interests. The program also expanded farther than just the medicine present in Argentinian hospitals, providing us students with cultural immersion classes covering topics such as tango, wine and history. These additions made the experience more holistic and thus it was able to contribute to me as a person and not solely just as a future healthcare provider. In addition, I would like to mention the quality of the staff that CFHI has employed. I was blessed with three amazing program directors (Carlos, Charly and Agustín) who served as helpful advisors, fierce advocates, strong support systems and wonderful friends. The staff was available at all hours and willing to assist in any issues that appeared during the trip. CFHI and their staff are what made the experience one that I will cherish for the rest of my life and I cannot put into words just how grateful I am for this organization.