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What if the most important tool you carry into a community isn’t a stethoscope or a syllabus, but a few words in the local language and a willingness to listen? That question threads through our conversation with Chrissie Faupel—Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) and Director of International Affairs at the University of Minnesota Duluth—who shares a candid, field-tested view of international service learning and study abroad.

Chrissie takes us inside her two years in Senegal, where a new clinic introduced Western medicine to a village that greeted it with understandable caution. She explains how learning Malinke, attending life events, and co-leading cervical cancer education with the head nurse built trust one conversation at a time. You’ll hear why education outlasts supplies, how traditional healing and clinic care can coexist, and what it really means to serve at the invitation of a host community.

We also get practical. Christy demystifies Peace Corps Prep and why it strengthens your application rather than “teaching you the Peace Corps.” She shares timely guidance on scholarships—especially the Gilman for Pell recipients—and urges students to look beyond the usual destinations. On safety, she’s direct: preparation matters, alcohol is a top incident driver, and university-approved affiliates and providers exist for a reason. We unpack how to vet programs, manage risk using State Department advisories with nuance, and choose between faculty-led, exchange, and third-party models without getting lost in options.

If you’re a student, educator, or curious global citizen, this conversation offers a clear path from curiosity to impact: learn the language, respect the culture, build relationships, and let education be the gift that remains after you leave. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who’s considering study abroad, and leave a review to help more listeners find the show. Where will your service begin?

Recommended Podcast:

1. Changing Lives Through Education Abroad

I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to not only share with you our guest’s introduction to international healthcare, but also to share with you how that exposure to international healthcare has shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations.

As a 45+ year nurse that has worked in quite a variety of clinical roles in our healthcare system, taught healthcare courses for the past 20 years at the university level, and has traveled extensively with my students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that healthcare focused students need, and greatly benefit from the opportunity to have hands-on experiential healthcare experiences in an international setting! I have seen the growth of students post travel as their self-confidence in their newly acquired skillsets, both clinical and cultural, facilitates their ability to take advantage of opportunities that previously may not have been available to them. By rendering care internationally, and stepping outside one's comfort zone, many more doors of opportunity will be opened.

Feel free to check out our website at www.islonline.org, follow us on Instagram @ islmedical, and reach out to me @ DrH@islonline.org

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Nurses save lives—and that simple truth reshaped Dr. Patrick “Dr. H” Hickey’s destiny five decades ago. Our conversation with Dr. H blends grit, humor, and deep professional insight to help you decide whether nursing is your calling and how to build a career that endures. We talk frankly about why motives matter, how to manage the emotional load of patient care, and what it takes to stand out when everyone has a strong GPA but little real-world experience.

We unpack nursing specialties in plain language—from Pediatrics, ICU, ER, and OR to Oncology and Advanced Practice—and clarify what credentials like CEN, CNOR, and CCRN actually mean for patient outcomes and career mobility. Dr. H breaks down education pathways with nuance: the speed and hands-on intensity of a two‑year ADN, the leadership runway of a four‑year BSN, and the bridge programs and tuition reimbursement that let you keep learning without drowning in debt. If you’re choosing your first unit or your first job, you’ll get practical criteria for evaluating hospitals: orientation length, preceptors, staffing ratios, infection data, turnover, clinical ladders, and the red flags buried in big sign-on bonuses.

A mentor at heart, Dr. H shares how to build a resume that speaks to hiring managers—service, leadership, nurse tech experience, study abroad, and even nonclinical work that proves you can multitask under pressure. We also explore global service learning and why supervised, international clinicals can transform confidence, empathy, and diagnostic thinking long before graduation. Along the way, we talk quality of life, faith, and the human touch—how a hand on a shoulder can calm fear and how boundaries protect both caregiver and patient.

If you’re curious about nursing in the age of AI, chasing your first offer, or debating ADN vs BSN, this episode gives you a clear map and the courage to follow it. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs clarity, and leave a review with your biggest nursing question—we’ll tackle it in a future episode.

Recommened Podcasts:

1. The Harlan Cohen Podcast
2. The Harlan Cohen Podcast (YouTube)

**This podcast was produced by Harlan Cohen ... to see it on YouTube access this link to Harlan's page: https://tinyurl.com/56zucsp2

I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to not only share with you our guest’s introduction to international healthcare, but also to share with you how that exposure to international healthcare has shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations.

As a 45+ year nurse that has worked in quite a variety of clinical roles in our healthcare system, taught healthcare courses for the past 20 years at the university level, and has traveled extensively with my students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that healthcare focused students need, and greatly benefit from the opportunity to have hands-on experiential healthcare experiences in an international setting! I have seen the growth of students post travel as their self-confidence in their newly acquired skillsets, both clinical and cultural, facilitates their ability to take advantage of opportunities that previously may not have been available to them. By rendering care internationally, and stepping outside one's comfort zone, many more doors of opportunity will be opened.

Feel free to check out our website at www.islonline.org, follow us on Instagram @ islmedical, and reach out to me @ DrH@islonline.org

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What if a single week abroad could change the way you practice medicine for life? We sit down with Naimick Patel to follow his journey from curious freshman to student leader to oncology clinical research coordinator, connecting vivid field experiences in Nicaragua and Guatemala with the everyday realities of patient communication and clinical trials in the United States. Along the way, we unpack the habits that build trust fast—greeting patients in their language, sitting at eye level, speaking to the person rather than the translator—and why those “small” choices can lower anxiety, reduce errors, and open doors to care.

We explore how thoughtful international service avoids the fly-in, fly-out trap by partnering with local hospitals, community clinics, and faith leaders for continuity and follow-up. Naimick shares powerful moments, from church-based clinics to community celebrations, that reveal how gratitude and empathy can cross any language barrier. He also offers a clear-eyed comparison of public and private systems across the US, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and India, highlighting a constant: provider passion is universal, but access and infrastructure determine outcomes.

These lessons now shape his work enrolling diverse patients into oncology trials, where clear explanations, cultural humility, and genuine connection determine whether a patient considers research as a care option. If you’ve wondered how study abroad translates into real-world healthcare impact, or how to communicate better with interpreters without losing rapport, this conversation delivers practical steps you can use tomorrow—grounded in lived experience, not theory.

If this episode sparks a new idea or nudges you to serve, share it with a friend, leave a quick review, and subscribe so you never miss the next story that helps you grow as a caregiver.

Recommended Book:

1. Being Mortal - Atul Gawande

I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to not only share with you our guest’s introduction to international healthcare, but also to share with you how that exposure to international healthcare has shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations.

As a 45+ year nurse that has worked in quite a variety of clinical roles in our healthcare system, taught healthcare courses for the past 20 years at the university level, and has traveled extensively with my students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that healthcare focused students need, and greatly benefit from the opportunity to have hands-on experiential healthcare experiences in an international setting! I have seen the growth of students post travel as their self-confidence in their newly acquired skillsets, both clinical and cultural, facilitates their ability to take advantage of opportunities that previously may not have been available to them. By rendering care internationally, and stepping outside one's comfort zone, many more doors of opportunity will be opened.

Feel free to check out our website at www.islonline.org, follow us on Instagram @ islmedical, and reach out to me @ DrH@islonline.org