How a Virtual Global Health Internship Reshaped One Medical Student's Understanding of Culture, Systems, and Practice

As a fourth-year medical student in the US, the CFHI Virtual Global & Public Health Internship – India was exactly the kind of experience I had been looking for to expand my understanding of health systems beyond the clinical settings I am accustomed to. The live sessions with India-based public health professionals brought real depth to topics I thought I understood from textbooks, things like infectious disease burden, sanitation gaps, and community-level intervention, and hearing about them directly from people doing the work on the ground reframed how I think about health systems entirely. What made the program stand out even further was the inclusion of personal and professional development, and Hindi language lessons, something I did not expect and found genuinely enriching, since being able to connect even a little with the language added a layer of cultural immersion that you rarely get from a virtual program. The program structure moved at a good pace, the CFHI team was responsive whenever I had questions, and the small group discussions with other participants pushed my thinking in directions I did not expect. What stayed with me most was the shift in how I understand cultural humility, not as a competency to check off, but as something that has to be actively practiced every time you step into a health context that is not your own. I plan to pursue global health as part of my career, and this program clarified what that actually means in practice. I would recommend it to any medical student who wants to move beyond the US health system.