April 2nd, 2018 by jamiefelzer

Hi, I’m Jamie! I’m a second-year internal medicine resident at Scripps Clinic in San Diego, CA. A little about myself… I’m from San Diego, but moved all over the world for 10 years, mostly for continuing my education, but felt as though the traveling and experiencing new cultures itself was what gave me the best education. I’ve been fortunate enough to have two prior international experiences, one each in undergrad and in med school. My first experience was in Cusco, Peru where I spent two months immersed in local life and after this, I knew I would want to continue pursuing opportunities in underserved areas. Then in med school I went with a small group of colleagues to Ecuador where we stayed and worked in a very rural village. Prior to starting medical school, I earned my MPH and worked at CDC with a special interest in infectious diseases.  I was fortunate enough to have a supportive residency program that allowed me to take on this learning experience.  This experience will now allow me to truly combine my degrees and love for public health.

I’ve now made it to Zambia after 4 flights (2 of which were overnight flights right in a row- funny how time travel seems to work)! It was perfect that I had a chance to catch up on some lost sleep after a month on wards. Along the way, I enjoyed chatting with some people from similar and different walks of life, part of the reason why I love traveling. I was greeted at the airport by some members of the hospital and we are staying in a hostel in Livingstone overnight as Monday is a holiday. We were fortunate enough to glimpse Victoria Falls at sunset and are heading to the national park today. Very excited to see the largest falls in the world up close. Then we’ll make the 3.5 hour trek to the hospital. Once we figure out the internet situation and get settled in, will try to keep up to date on the blogs.