Medical Expedition Blogs

Amazon Hope - A Dental Student’s Experience Before embarking on my expedition I knew of a few people who had done the expedition before who highly recommended it. However, I felt a little apprehensive as apart from some advice to bring hiking boots, I didn’t really know what to expect! A thunderstorm in Glasgow almost derailed the trip but thankfully I managed to get the last flight to Heathrow and begin my journey to the Amazon. Upon landing in Peru, I immediately knew I made the right decision. From start to end I had such a lovely time and met loads…

Ever since I was a child, I dreamed of joining an expedition to a truly extraordinary place like the Amazon rainforest. I was in Mexico when those childhood dreams suddenly came back to me. I remembered the adventurous kid who believed that if you want to live extraordinary experiences, you cannot simply wait for them to find you. So that's exactly what I did. I opened my laptop, searched for medical expeditions, and discovered Vine Trust. Before the trip, my biggest expectation wasn't just the Amazon itself—it was the people I would meet and the opportunity to learn from them…

I was hauled up onto the bustling jetty from the small wooden fishing boat which brought us from Jubilee Hope to the island. As we were lead through the dense crowd, I turned to Eilidh and we shared a look - was this definitely a good idea? I certainly knew I wasn't in Edinburgh anymore. However, despite this initial assault on the senses, in 11 days time we'd be wishing we could do it all again. Eilidh and I have been friends since our first day of FY1, and, when we both became locum GPs at the end of our…

I’m a final year medical student who completed their elective last summer on the Vine Trust ship in Peru. I’ve had a few months to reflect on my trip and the experiences I had, and it’s safe to say that deciding to do my elective with the Vine Trust was one of the best decisions I could have made.  I did my elective with two of my best friends who are also medical students. We arrived on the ship and were welcomed by the crew and introduced to Frank. Frank was amazing – he taught us Spanish, took us into…

I write to you from the Loreto part of the River Amazon in NorthEastern Peru.  I have just completed an incredible 11 days on a large medical boat with a local Peruvian team. We have been running clinics on ship for free to provide primary health and dental care. Hopping from village to village each day to offer everything from parasitic gut infection treatments to children’s growth checks, dental extractions and fillings to simple analgesia. I was given a translator named Frank, Peruvian and super enthusiastic and my bridge to understanding the consultation as my Spanish is extremely minimal.  Typical…

For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt a deep desire to volunteer in some of the world’s most underprivileged communities. Life, however, had other plans - career, study, and personal commitments took priority. Yet, at the core of my being, I’ve always longed for something greater than myself: a sense of purpose and a way to be truly useful. As a qualified nurse and midwife, I knew that improving lives through healthcare was the most natural way for me to help. So, when a professional colleague shared her experience with Vine Trust, something stirred within me. I visited…