For Global Medical Brigades volunteers, a Brigade has never been just about one week.
It can be the moment a student sees healthcare differently. The experience that deepens their commitment to medicine. The first time they understand what community-led healthcare looks like in practice, or they begin to see more clearly the kind of healthcare professional they hope to become.
However, becoming that healthcare professional takes more than one experience. It takes reflection, mentorship, preparation, and guidance… and people who understand first-hand the journey ahead.
That's why we’re excited to officially announce a new partnership between Global Medical Brigades (GMB) and Shemmassian Academic Consulting (SAC) with the goal of bringing together two organizations committed to helping aspiring healthcare professionals grow into their potential and make a meaningful impact in the world.
For years, GMB has provided students with opportunities to learn alongside healthcare professionals and community partners while supporting sustainable, community-led health systems worldwide.
Those experiences can be formative.
But we've also heard the questions that often come afterward:
Those questions matter.
And they're exactly why working with SAC makes so much sense.
Founded by Dr. Shirag Shemmassian, Shemmassian Academic Consulting has spent more than 20 years helping students navigate the path to medical school, with over 90% of their students accepted to at least one U.S. medical school on their first application. Their advisors are physicians trained at institutions like Johns Hopkins, Yale, and Penn, several of whom have served on medical school admissions committees. They work with students on everything from academic and extracurricular planning to the MCAT, personal statements, secondary essays, interviews, and overall admissions strategy.
Together, GMB and SAC can support students at two important points in the journey: developing meaningful experiences that shape their understanding of healthcare and learning how to thoughtfully carry those experiences forward
We believe the value of a Brigade isn't simply that you participated.
It's what you learned from the people you met.
It's the questions the experience caused you to ask.
It's how your understanding of global health, cultural humility, collaboration, and service evolved.
And ultimately, it's what you do with those lessons next.
That's an important distinction, especially for students preparing for careers in healthcare.
Medical schools aren't simply looking for a checklist of experiences. They're looking for future physicians who can demonstrate maturity, curiosity, empathy, self-awareness, and a thoughtful understanding of why they want to practice medicine.
This partnership will give GMB students and alumni volunteers access to additional expertise to help them make those connections authentically.
Not to turn a Brigade into a line on an application, but to help students understand how the experiences they've genuinely had are shaping the healthcare professionals they're becoming.
Over the coming months, you'll begin seeing more from GMB and SAC together.
That will include:
At Global Medical Brigades, our work has always extended beyond the clinic.
Our Holistic Model recognizes that health doesn't exist in isolation. Sustainable change requires people, systems, resources, education, and communities working together.
We believe something similar is true for developing the next generation of healthcare professionals.
There isn't one experience, one course, one mentor, or one application that creates a great physician.
It's the accumulation of experiences, relationships, lessons, challenges, and choices along the way.
At Global Medical Brigades, we’ve always believed the impact of a Brigade should extend far beyond the experience itself. Just as we are committed to building long-term, sustainable development work with communities, we want these experiences to have a lasting impact on the students who serve alongside them. Our hope is that students return home with more than a deeper understanding of global health—they return with greater empathy, a stronger sense of purpose, and a clearer vision for the kind of healthcare professional they want to become. Through our partnership with Shemmassian Academic Consulting, we can help students build on that experience with the mentorship, reflection, and guidance they need to turn their passion for service into a meaningful career in healthcare. — Steve Atamian, Co-founder, Global Brigades
GMB and SAC are coming together because we believe students deserve support throughout that journey. From the experiences that first shape your understanding of healthcare to the decisions that ultimately shape your careers.
Because the goal isn't simply helping more students get into medical school.
It's helping prepare thoughtful, compassionate, globally minded healthcare professionals who are ready to make a meaningful impact wherever they serve.
To learn more about SAC and how they can help you prepare for a career in global health, read their blog, How To Prepare For A Career In Global Health As A Premed.