Medical Trips

Since 2011, Shoulder to Shoulder has sponsored a self-funded trip to Tanzania for faculty, medical students, and residents to practice alongside Tanzanian physicians at Ilula Lutheran Hospital.

It is an immersive experience, emphasizing social and cultural aspects, as well as medical knowledge and interdisciplinary development of a teamwork model, in the context of a resource-poor medical setting. Participants live on the Ilula Hospital Campus and work with Ilula doctors, nurses, and other staff.

The Ilula Global Health Team Experience fosters team-based education and cross-professional collaboration in global health using a combination of traditional didactic discussions, guided reflection, supervised clinical participation, and case studies.

The program begins in the months prior to travel with a series of at least four meetings which include group-building, pertinent didactic topics and practical travel information.

This program provides the opportunity to cultivate global health competencies including understanding:

Social determinants of health;
Healthcare disparities between countries;
Primary care within diverse cultural settings;
Team development drawing from the skills and strengths of their respective disciplines;
Cultural humility;
Understanding of the global burden of disease;
Understanding common infectious, non-infectious and emerging diseases relevant to Sub-Saharan Africa;
Travel medicine.

Want to travel?

Fill out the form on the Contact Us page or email IlulaHealth@gmail.com.

Past Trips

Past trip blogs are a good way to see what groups typically do and see the setting of the hospital.