An intern checks a woman’s blood pressure during an undergraduate medical volunteering opportunity abroad.

Our Top 4 Pre-Med Programs for Undergraduates in 2024

ENHANCE YOUR MED SCHOOL APPLICATION WITH REAL-WORLD CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

By Vicci Parry | 06th February, 2019
Updated on 01st February, 2024

Medical school applications - if these three simple words are enough to send you reeling, you’re probably a pre-med student. It can be a stressful process - filling out forms, planning for interviews, and, most importantly, worrying about how to get your application to stand out.

Admissions are extremely competitive. But the good news is there’s a solution that’ll help you get clinical experience, learn directly from medical professionals, and boost your resume. That’s why the three words that go hand-in-hand with ‘medical school applications’ are ‘medical internships abroad’.

Our medical internships for undergraduates shows the admissions board that you’re serious about a career in medicine. It affirms your passion and commitment to understanding global healthcare issues. It also sets you apart as flexible and able to adapt to vastly different healthcare settings.

But which of our shadowing opportunities for pre-med students is for you? With so many out there, it can be a challenge to narrow down your options.

To make it a little easier for you (we’re sure you’re tired of sorting through admin for applications!), we’ve compiled a list of our top four medical internships that offer the best clinical experience for pre-med students in the United States.

1. Medicine in Kenya

Our Medicine Project in Kenya gives you the perfect balance between shadowing and hands-on work. You’ll work in a low-income private healthcare facility where you’ll learn about the duties of local doctors and nurses. This gives you a more rounded experience and understanding of the healthcare system. The facility is less equipped than you might be used to, but it’s helpful to see the innovative ways doctors cope with limited resources.

As part of our medical internships for college students in Kenya, you’ll also go on weekly medical outreaches. These outreaches involve taking vital signs, like blood pressure, in remote or rural communities. This gives you practical experience in a more informal setting, all under the supervision of local professionals from the Ministry of Health.

A group of undergraduates shadow doctors abroad on a Medicine internship in Kenya.

2. Medicine in Mexico

Work in a hospital or healthcare clinic on our medical internships for undergraduates in Mexico. Depending on how long you join for, you can rotate between a range of departments. These include:

  • Gynecology
  • Pediatrics
  • Endocrinology
  • Surgery

On this pre-med program, you’ll spend your days shadowing doctors abroad and learning from them. They’ll be able to explain complicated procedures to you and answer any of your questions. You can even sit in on consultations.

If you speak a good level of Spanish, no need to venture further than Mexico for the educational experience of a lifetime! Basic Spanish is required to join, but an intermediate level will make your experience more worthwhile. It’s the perfect opportunity to improve your Spanish skills and even learn medical terminology in Spanish.

A medical intern helps at an outreach in Mexico while shadowing doctors abroad.

3. Medicine in the Philippines

Our Medical Internship in the Philippines focuses on tackling some of the most prevalent diseases in the area. Some examples include diabetes, heart disease, and respiratory diseases.

On top of addressing these illnesses, a major focus of the project is eradicating dengue fever. This is a mosquito-borne disease that you probably won’t encounter in the United States.

As a pre-med intern, you’ll take practical steps to combat this disease. You may get involved in workshops on prevention, symptoms, and treatment, as well as destroy mosquito breeding grounds to limit the spread of disease. Depending on the time of year, you may even get involved in testing for dengue fever during medical outreaches.

You’ll work closely with local community members. You’ll spend a lot of your time traveling through rural areas and assisting with medical care during house-to-house visits and outreaches. Without our help, these remote communities would have extremely limited access to healthcare services. 

An intern working at an outreach during a medical volunteer opportunity in Philippines.

4. Medicine in Argentina

Get experience in a hospital and smaller healthcare clinics on our Medicine Internship for undergraduates in Argentina. You’ll shadow doctors abroad as they do ward rounds and consultations. This is a great way to get first-hand insight into what it’s like to work in a hospital.

Healthcare in Argentina is considered to be of a very high standard, which means you’ll get to learn about modern equipment and techniques.

Being a Spanish-speaking country, doing a pre-med program in Argentina is also ideal if you want to diversify your medical knowledge by learning about different medical terms in Spanish. Keep in mind; you need to be able to speak Spanish at an intermediate level to join this program in Argentina.

A pre med student learns to suture during a medical workshop on an internship in Argentina.

Take your med school application to the next level with our pre-med programs

Now that you know more about how to get clinical experience as an undergraduate, take a moment to think about which of these medical internships for college students best suits your needs. No matter the specialization you choose, there’s a pre-med program for you with Projects Abroad. Read more about our international medical internships.  

So, what are you waiting for? Get ready to start planning your trip so you can ace your med school applications, get international experience, and become a well-rounded practitioner! 

Want to join a Medical Project?

Contact us to get started!

Fields marked with * are compulsory!

Share this article:

Don't forget to spread the word and let us know what you think on Facebook and Twitter!

Want to know more about our Medical Internships?

Get in touch with our Projects Experts. They'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

(+1) 619 320 2424

Our accreditations