Starting a career in the healthcare field is an
important decision. It will not only affect your life but will
hopefully affect thousands of others through assistance and care.
When studying, an internship is often the best way to gain experience
and knowledge in the areas you will be working in.
Interning at local hospitals or medical
centers can have many benefits,
but it is equally important to gain a wider perspective. For this
reason, a medical internship abroad can be just as, or more,
beneficial to your professional career. Here’s why you should
consider it.
1. Is the Career Right for You?
It can be easy to be caught up in the whirlwind of
interviews, job applications, and new information when studying
medicine. What people often neglect to do is to take a step back and
wonder if the life of a healthcare professional is actually right for
you. Doing a medical internship abroad can help you decide this.
Observing the day to day life of healthcare
workers will assist you in knowing if it is right for you or not. The
questions or scenarios that may arise overseas will not only
strengthen you but will help you realize what you actually want.
2. Skip Formalities
There are a number of legal formalities that need
to be met for you to be eligible to undertake a medical internship.
In the UK, it is often only those studying or holding postgraduate
medical degrees that can become interns. This can be sidestepped by
applying abroad.
In places with less strict procedures, medical
internship abroad undergraduates
will be given a great opportunity to kickstart their career or to
gain knowledge in the healthcare field.
3. Benefit and Improve Your Resume
Having experience abroad will look great on your
resume, whether it be pre-med or pre-health. It can also
boost your medical school application.
It not only shows you have experience, it shows that you are truly
committed to a career in healthcare. Furthermore, having experience
in countries other than your home country highlights shows a wider
perspective and a more diverse understanding of the healthcare field.
A strong resume showing experience abroad is sure
to impress any future employer, and will also make it easier to get
letters of recommendation and mentors.
4. Learn or Study Language and Culture
An internship not only looks good on your resume
and professional history but will assist in your future career and
your general life knowledge.
Where learning new languages can often mean
expensive courses and tutoring, being thrust into a non-English
speaking country will immerse you in a different culture and
language, fast-tracking your learning.
5. Expose Yourself to International Healthcare
Understanding healthcare procedures in other of
countries is sure to benefit your career. Doing an internship abroad
will widen your knowledge of both private and public healthcare
systems and how they operate in different environments.
A medical internship abroad will not only deepen
your knowledge of the healthcare industry but will open you to an
array of different influences and perspectives. Taking this step can
mean future employment and a deeper immersion in your passion for
healthcare.