by Henry B. Valdivia
I am currently writing this from Bangkok where I am having the opportunity of a life time, which would not have been possible without the Beyond120 Pre-Health Scholar Program.
I am a sophomore biology major in the Beyond120 Pre-Health Scholar program graduating 2026 following a pre-professional path. The Beyond120 program is a professional development program that interested me because both the course work and experiential learning opportunities go beyond the ‘classroom experience’ and teach real world introduction to the process of the medical profession. This program encouraged me to go beyond the classroom, which is how I find myself in Bangkok this summer.
My journey to Thailand began in the Fall of 2022 when I received an email from Ms. Knickerbocker regarding the Equal Access Clinic Network. The EACN is a UF Medical School run program which assists the local community in Gainesville and has on-going medical research programs. I applied and was accepted to work as a research assistant working with the Mobile ECG study at one of the clinics. This has been an invaluable experience working with the local community in Gainesville and an opportunity I would not have found without the continual updates from PHS and its mission to keep students informed on potential research opportunities.
Working at the Equal Access Clinic Network actually opened my eyes to the prospects of helping other communities, which led to me finding the UF in Thailand Program. PHS has a mission to help students learn beyond the hard sciences and get insight into how people of other cultures experience health care. The program stresses the need for patient centered, well rounded pre-professional students and that is exactly what led me to look for my summer internship in Thailand.
I am currently working at Thammasat University Hospital volunteering full time, rotating between transfusional medicine, physical therapy, radiology and preventative and corrective medical device maintenance, while immersing myself in a culturally unique healthcare system. I am having the opportunity to learn from and work with Thai professionals which is helping me grow as a future medical student, using teamwork and collaboration, while recognizing and appreciating the differences in cultures and how I can learn from a different perspective. The Beyond120 PHS program helped make this opportunity a reality by awarding me a scholarship to help pay the expenses of this trip.
Yesterday I spent the afternoon working with a group of Buddhist Monks who came into Thammasat University Hospital to give blood. Without the PHS program I would never have had the opportunity for this experience and the ability to expand my understanding of global diversity in health care.
