The TotalMed Blog

Insights, Tips, and Stories for Healthcare Travelers

Career advice, pay guidance, and life-on-the-road wisdom from our team and the clinicians who make healthcare move.

healthcare career opportunities
Featured
September 7, 2026
·
7 min read

One Career. Many Paths. Meet the New TotalMed.

When you first entered healthcare, you probably had an idea of what your career would look like. Then life happened. Priorities changed. Opportunities appeared.

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Practice area
international travel nursing on medical mission
Mercy Ships
December 28, 2015
2 min read

Mercy Ships: The Dress Ceremony

Every other Friday we celebrate the dress ceremony at the women’s clinic. Once each woman is recovered from fistula surgery and is ready to

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international travel nursing on medical mission
Mercy Ships
December 21, 2015
2 min read

Mercy Ships: A Different Kind of Nursing

I didn’t realize how different Mercy Ships nursing would be. As I’ve seen in my nursing career, hospitals generally strive for “holistic” care of

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international travel nursing on medical mission
Mercy Ships
December 16, 2015
3 min read

Mercy Ships: Life in the Team House

Most Mercy Ships crew live and work on the ship. However, I am one of the few that lives and works off the ship.

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international travel nursing on medical mission
Mercy Ships
December 8, 2015
2 min read

Mercy Ships: My Arrival!

After four flights and 64 hours of travel, I was tired but excited. When I got off the plane, Kathy, a Mercy Ships representative,

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international travel nursing on medical mission
Mercy Ships
February 24, 2015
5 min read

Mercy Ships: A Happy Homecoming

Deep breath and say this fast – I’ve been back in the country for 14 days and I’m finally starting to feel grounded. I’ve

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international travel nursing on medical mission
Mercy Ships
January 29, 2015
5 min read

Mercy Ships: Ending My Time in Madagascar

1/29/2015 – I’m now in my final days aboard the Africa Mercy, and I find myself struggling with what to write. There are so

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international travel nursing on medical mission
Mercy Ships
January 19, 2015
3 min read

Mercy Ships: My Last Two Weeks

01/19/2015 – As I sit on my bunk this morning, I’m letting all that has occurred during the last 8.5 weeks pour over me.

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international travel nursing on medical mission
Mercy Ships
January 7, 2015
3 min read

Mercy Ships: Gifts from the Hope Center

I started my New Year’s Day walking to the Hope Center with two other nurses/friends. The Hope Center is where patients who live far

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international travel nursing on medical mission
Mercy Ships
December 29, 2014
4 min read

Mercy Ships: Arahaba Tratry Krisimasy! (Merry Christmas in Malagasy)

12/29/2014 – How do I begin to explain Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on the ship? It was a celebration, unlike anything I’ve experienced

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international travel nursing on medical mission
Mercy Ships
December 22, 2014
3 min read

Mercy Ships: Preparing for Christmas

12/22/2014 – It’s a little hard to believe that Christmas is only days away and harder still to realize that I’ve been on the

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international travel nursing on medical mission
Mercy Ships
December 17, 2014
3 min read

Mercy Ships: Making Friends, Missing Others

12/17/2014 – It’s hard to believe that I’ve been on the ship for three weeks already. In some ways, it feels much longer –

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international travel nursing on medical mission
Mercy Ships
December 12, 2014
4 min read

Mercy Ships: Life on the Ship

12/8/2014 – I’ve been thinking I should write about what life is like on the ship since I haven’t said much yet about day-to-day

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