Table 3.

Themes identified from student comments

Theme(s)	Representative students’ comments
Empathy	➢ “A great ‘life’ learning experience. A trip that solidifies compassion to a new degree.”
Cultural Awareness	➢ “Learned new culture – Friendship”
	➢ “Exposure to providing health-care to a group of people with a different culture and language”
Professional Development	➢ “Did my first surgery, saw my first patient, networked with doctors and other students, and got inspired for using my skills in my own under-served areas and those abroad.”
	➢ “I learned a lot of clinical skills, including physical exam techniques and perhaps more importantly communication skills.”
Impact on patient population/Impact on health professional	➢ “Exposure to health-care in a completely different country and patient population.”
	➢ “Belief that we have a positive impact on people’s lives.”