what is the best medical specialty for mission work?

Question

im considering taking medicine and do some mission work....i want to know what you think,ur opinion and stuff

Answer 1

When I went to Medical School, 10% of my class were planning to become Missionary Physicians. Seven of them did residences in family practice and the other three did residences in general surgery

All have had very interesting, exciting and satisfying careers. Good luck and God's Speed

Answer 2

Concider the diseases most people in "third world" countires suffer from. The two traditional killers are malaria and cholera. Both are the result of inadequate plumbing. Sadly, the AIDS epidemic is also becomming a major cause of death. Here the problem appears to be inadequate education.

The one branch of medical science which seems to address these problems the best is public health. The benefits are that one is helping a great number of people a little, instead of a small group of people a lot. However, one of the problems with public health is its bureaucratic nature. All too often, a conflict of interest exists and this severely limits the effectiveness of public health. This is a severe problem in developing countries where political corruption is often rampant.

One last thing to concider is the focus of the endeavor. Is it primarily missionary or medicinal? If the major goal is to evangelize, then public health service seems a waste of time. On the other hand, if one is using their medical skills soly to influence the way a person thinks, then in my opinion this boarders on a conflict of interests. Never forget a doctor's primary responcibility is healing people, and this is in no way synomonous with healing people's souls. In short, practice medicine and practice religion - but never at the same time.

good luck

Answer 3

i don't know if it is availabale in your country, but here in the philippines, there is a specialization called community medicine. it is the type of medicine where the doctors go to farflung areas, especially those where hospitals are not available. it covers public health and family health also.

Answer 4

I would think general practice would be best. However, look at the regions you want to go to and see if there are particular problems there and then specialize based on that.

Answer 5

When you go to 3rd world countries, nutrition is the worst problem, followed by malaria, diarrhea, parasites, and other diseases. Knowing how to prevent and treat these diseases will be to you advantage.