Priya Panneerselvam is an obstetrician-gynecologist.

The hard truth about short-term medical mission trips

Physician
August 3, 2026

In 2024, I joined a medical mission trip across East Africa with my spiritual community. Our guiding principle was simple: “Love all, serve all.” The goal was selfless service: providing free medical care to anyone who needed it. Roughly sixty of us traveled together, physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and support staff, moving across rural sites to set up temporary medical camps.

We saw hundreds of patients in environments that shifted constantly: church …

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The hard truth about short-term medical mission trips

How medicine reflects women’s silence

Physician
November 29, 2025

My mother’s life was defined by silence. She was born in India. In a world where a woman’s worth was measured in duty: how well she cared for others, how quietly she endured. She was obedient. Her dreams were practical, her voice gentle. Never shared an opinion.

I used to think that by becoming a doctor (a woman with a career, a passport, a voice) I had escaped that silence for …

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How medicine reflects women’s silence