Keck-USC School of Medicine has partnered with Global ENT Outreach to offer medical students in their third and forth years a unique opportunity to travel and learn. Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Dennis Mull, M.D. from the Department of Family Medicine and Mrs. Linda Werner from the office of educational affairs the program is now open to students who wish to use their elective time participating in an international clerkship.
Suriname, the former Dutch Guyana, has opened their doors to medical students who wish to come and experience their diverse ethnic cultures, third world medicine in a tropical environment, and world-class eco-touring.
Traditionally, Dutch medical students have elected to go to Suriname for electives in their fourth year. The program, which has been in place for over 10 tears, offers rotations in Internal Medicine, Orthopedics, Family Medicine, Ophthalmology, ENT, Dermatology, General Surgery, and Emergency Room Medicine. Rotations in Suriname are conducted at the Diakonesseshuis Hospital, Academic Hospital, and in both government and private clinics under the supervision of the program's medical director. American students will participate in rotations with Dutch medical students.
Suriname physicians are educated both in Suriname and in universities throughout Holland. Specialists, traditionally received their training in the Netherlands, and as a result, possess skills and knowledge of medicine equal to those of physicians from any first world country.
The goals of this program are three-fold. First, to provide an exciting learning environment in a developing country where diseases such as Malaria, Dengue Fever, and Leishmaniasis give visiting physicians a unique exposure to the difficulties facing populations in developing countries. Second, to provide the opportunity to meet and work with professionals from other countries, such as the Suriname physicians and the Dutch medical students who are on rotations in Suriname. Third, to have hands on practical experience practicing medicine in a different unfamiliar cultural setting, where the experience has the promise of developing an appreciation, understanding, and insight into other cultures in the world, while at the same time enabling personal self development and appreciation for practicing medicine in a system with technological advances.