Year Itinerary

I will begin my gap with a medical internship in Cusco, Peru with International Medical Aid for three weeks. This experience will include medical shadowing, lectures, clinical simulations, mentorship, and community outreach clinics. I will work in a local hospital and do rotations in the departments of internal medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, and OBGYN. Following this experience I will remain in Cusco for another three weeks to complete a Spanish intensive program through Maximo Nivel Peru. During this experience I will live with a local Peruvian family and volunteer at a local daycare center for underserved children. After refining my Spanish, I will travel to a scientific research base in the Peruvian Amazon outside of Puerto Maldonado, where I will develop an independent field research project and collaborate with a team of scientists. 
In the fall, I will travel to Pokhara, Nepal, to volunteer with public health projects and a women’s empowerment initiative that supports survivors of human trafficking. From there, I will continue on to Thailand to work with conservationists reintegrating formerly exploited elephants into the wild and monitoring local gibbon populations. This program will deepen my understanding of ethical conservation, environmental education, and cross-cultural collaboration.
I will begin the new year in South Africa with a nine-week healthcare internship at a hospital in a township outside of Cape Town. There, I will shadow medical professionals across various specialties, assist with basic patient care and intake procedures, and support day-to-day operations throughout the hospital system. Following my time in Cape Town, I plan to travel to Kruger National Park, surrounding game reserves, and animal sanctuaries across Southern Africa to work with conservation teams and gain experience in wildlife care and rehabilitation.
Throughout this year, I will gain hands-on experience in scientific research and conservation, accumulate pre-medical clinical hours, and participate in intensive healthcare internships. I will contribute to community development and humanitarian projects across several countries, while also strengthening my Spanish fluency through consistent immersion in Spanish-speaking environments.