There was a time when West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) students were providing care to patients from Bangladesh to Bolivia and Sierra Leone to South Korea. But when the world was navigating a pandemic, international rotations ceased.
WVSOM is quickly moving toward again having an international presence with its newly created Rural and International Medicine (RIM) Center, formerly known as the Center for International Medicine and Cultural Concerns, established in 2009.
“During COVID, the world completely shut down, so we weren’t able to do some of the international rotations or medical service trips that had been done before. It became apparent to WVSOM that we needed to step onto the global stage again and we started picking things back up in 2023,” said Mark Waddell, D.O., who has been charged with growing the center and increasing student interest in international or rural rotations. Clinical rotations are the time students spend in their third and fourth years of medical school at clinics, hospitals and other sites applying their knowledge in real-world settings.
When international rotations were at their peak, more than 20 WVSOM students were completing them during their clinical years. In 2024, five students and one faculty member from WVSOM’s chapter of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations traveled to the Dominican Republic for a mission trip, and 19 students and two faculty members from the school’s chapter of DOCARE International provided care in Peru. Additionally, four students completed elective international rotations in Honduras, Costa Rica and Mexico.
In 2025, three service trips are planned — two of which will take place during spring break — in addition to four confirmed international electives and two more expected.
For Waddell, expanding partnerships with international organizations is more important than ensuring a desired number of students participate in global rotations.
“I want to be affiliated with about 12 different organizations that provide opportunities for international electives all over the world so that students in their third and especially fourth year will be able to go anywhere in the world to experience other cultures and other ways of doing things,” Waddell said.
These organizations are known for providing humanitarian or faith-based international work, similar to Doctors Without Borders or Samaritan’s Purse, and have ties to the U.S. with established international infrastructures.
“We want to be able to build and arrange visits so that patients will eventually be able to have good continuity of care and it’s not just a one-and-done experience. We have to have organizations that have sound infrastructures to partner with. Our resources are the students, who have so much enthusiasm and intelligence, and we plug into what’s already there to provide better care,” Waddell said.
Currently, WVSOM is affiliated with six service organizations that work with WVSOM to offer elective rotations in 23 different countries.
The RIM Center’s mission is to help promote interest in and aid in the recruitment of students and physicians who desire to practice in rural, underserved communities at home and abroad. In doing this, the center aids WVSOM in producing osteopathic physicians who are culturally experienced and globally functioning.
Waddell said it has been shown that medical students who participate in international service projects are more likely to enter primary care specialties and are more likely to practice in rural areas, both key components of WVSOM’s mission.
“Once you have stepped out of your comfort zone and into a more resource-poor environment and experience other cultures and people, you have immense personal growth,” Waddell said. “In all the international work I’ve done, the personal growth is huge. When students return, they have that in the back of their minds and in their hearts, and that’s one of the things they want to continue to do, so they’re more likely to practice in primary care or rural areas.”
One of the main hurdles for students looking to have international experiences is money — not for personal expenses, but for the luggage loads of medicine and supplies that are brought to provide care to patients.
The International Festival, which takes place each winter, is the school’s biggest fundraiser for the DOCARE spring break trip to Peru. Additionally, the club hosts smaller fundraisers such as holiday wreath sales, candle sales and bake sales.
Megan Kelley, a Class of 2025 student, is currently completing her first international rotation at a clinic in Roatan, Honduras, until the end of March. She said she was interested in having an immersive experience where her knowledge of medical Spanish would be useful.
“I have been interested in global health and international travel since 2012. When this opportunity presented itself, I didn’t hesitate to start the process,” Kelley said. “I think it’s important to have a basic understanding of medical systems in other countries and how they solve problems in resource-poor areas. You never know when the tips and tricks you learn will be beneficial in your own practice.”
WVSOM will also have a footprint in Rwanda, with Class of 2026 student Taylor Strait completing an international rotation in the African country at the end of April. He will participate in a pediatric urologic surgery workshop with the International Volunteers in Urology (IVU), assisting two pediatric urologic surgeons and an anesthesiologist.
“I have always been interested in expanding access to care, particularly in underserved areas, and this opportunity will allow me to contribute in a meaningful way,” Strait said. “What makes this experience impactful is that it is not just about observation. I will be assisting to support IVU’s mission of teaching pediatric urologic procedures to in-country urologists. The goal is to provide sustainable education so that these surgeons can continue offering these procedures long after the workshop ends.”
Strait said he is eager to experience how medicine extends beyond one individual, institution or country.
“Medical school is a structured and demanding path, but I saw this as an opportunity to step outside my comfort zone, broaden my perspective and engage in something that aligns with my long-term goal of becoming a well-rounded, service-oriented physician,” he said. “More than anything, I hope to gain a better understanding of how surgery is approached in resource-limited settings and how international collaboration can strengthen local health care systems in a lasting, meaningful way. I know that adaptability is a critical skill in medicine, and I hope this experience will help me develop the ability to function effectively in different clinical environments. That ability will serve me well as I continue my training in medical school, residency and beyond.”
Rural and international clinical experiences provide more than what can be taught in the classroom. They teach students how to be osteopathic physicians, according to Waddell.
“It’s not just osteopathic manipulation, it’s learning how to listen to your patients, to touch your patients, to perform good physical examinations and determine your differential diagnoses to come up with what is best for your patients with the resources you have,” he said. “Those are huge lessons students learn.”