Ole Miss Student Combines Passions in Italian Medical Fellowship

The adventure of travel was instilled by her family at a young age and affirmed when she studied abroad last summer in Italy, where her appreciation of the language and culture deepened.

"That transformative experience inspired me to seek opportunities that combine my love for travel with my academic and career goals," the biological sciences major from Columbia said.

She decided that shadowing in the medical field would be the best solution. So, she sought opportunities to do just that.

As part of the Doctors in Italy Fellowship Program, Ragan, along with a handful of other students from around the world, spent two weeks in Bari, Italy, located along the top of the "heel" of Italy's "boot." There, she shadowed doctors at Giovanni Paolo II Cancer Institute, one of southern Italy's leading centers for cancer care and research.

Participants had opportunities to observe oncologists, radiologists, surgeons and multidisciplinary teams delivering care to patients. They witnessed firsthand how clinicians use the latest research in their practice, offering a unique perspective on how scientific advancements translate into better patient outcomes.

Not only did students observe the technical aspect of providing care, but they also gained different insights.

"Participating in the program will increase Samantha's ability to take in and analyze data and behaviors from different perspectives," said Kelli Hutchens, senior academic adviser for the Ole Miss Health Professions Advising Office.

"For future doctors, cultural competence is very important," she said. "By immersing herself in another country where English is not the primary language spoken, she gained perspective in relating to patients who are non-English – or limited English speaking – increasing her cultural humility."

This exposure also allowed students to build a deeper understanding of oncological care, develop clinical observation skills and broaden their application for global health care systems.

Before her trek along the Adriatic coast, Ragan shadowed an anesthesiologist, a cardiologist and an orthopedic surgeon in Mississippi. But in Bari, she was able to observe a wide range of surgical procedures.

Since the hospital is a cancer center, all the surgeries were cancer-focused, she said.

"I observed surgeries under obstetrics and gynecology, senology, radiology, cardiothoracic surgery and general oncology."

A unique aspect of the program allowed students to photograph the surgeries they observed. Additionally, students observed any surgery that interested them – with no restrictions.

The most memorable for Ragan was a left thoracotomy lobectomy, where doctors removed a lobe of the left lung through an incision in the patient's chest cavity.

"When the surgeon opened the patient's chest, I was able to see the movement of the lung expanding and exhaling," she said. "I had never seen the lung in person before.

"Something I will take from this experience is perspective. When studying medicine, especially pictures and diagrams, it's hard to transfer those images to real-life scenarios, as real anatomy always looks different from the books."

Ragan said seeing the surgeries gave her a deeper understanding of the human body.

"It is always important to understand anatomy as that allows you to distinguish abnormalities, but also, everyone looks different and that does not mean something is wrong," she said.

When not observing surgeries, Ragan was soaking up the Italian culture with fellow participants from Brazil, Mexico, Nepal, Peru and Romania. During their free time, the students enjoyed meals together, paddleboarding and exploring neighboring towns.

Hutchens hopes the experience increased Ragan's comfort with the unfamiliar as well as appreciation of modern medicine.

"I hope this experience exposed her to a different culture and health care system and allowed her to reflect on the differences in how we approach health in the U.S. versus the Italian system," Hutchens said.

Mission accomplished.

"I think traveling is quite important as it allows you to get out of your 'bubble' and interact with people you never would have thought would impact your perspective on the world," Ragan said.

"I had never really thought of how health care is taught in other parts of the world before this experience, which helped me gain appreciation for my country."

Top: Samantha Ragan (third from left), an Ole Miss junior from Columbia, gathers with fellow interns and doctors as part of the Doctors in Italy Fellowship Program. The biological sciences major spent two weeks this summer shadowing doctors at Giovanni Paolo II Cancer Institute in Bari, Italy. Submitted photo