AAFP Foundation’s Family Medicine Cares International
Medical missions that are mindful of long-term impact
“Sadly, global health is not always very well thought out,” said Luis Raul Colon-Mulero, MD, DABFM, a family medicine physician for WVU Medicine in Grantsville, Maryland.
In practice for three years, Colon-Mulero has already completed a fellowship in global health at UMass and numerous international medical missions, including trips to Haiti, Guatemala, Nicaragua and in Liberia, during the Covid pandemic. So his assessment that the AAFP Foundation’s Family Medicine Cares International (FMCI) program does a “great job of making sure their work is up to the highest standards” is backed by experience.
From February 15-22, 2025, Colon-Mulero joined an FMCI delegation of family medicine physicians to provide health care services and medical education in the Dominican Republic (DR) — the first of what he hopes will be many excursions with the FMCI.
“There are many ethical considerations in global health, particularly when you’re doing short-term trips,” he explained. Too many groups “parachute” into a region, provide care without coordinating with local providers and exit without a follow-up plan.
By contrast, his trip with FMCI was well planned, with a strong local partner, One World Surgery, who ensured it was set up responsibly, medications were properly dispensed and a follow-up plan put in place.
“They even have an EMR designed for NGOs, where all patient interactions are well documented,” he said, enabling the next volunteers to follow up on care already provided.
Colon-Murelo had taken trips to the DR during his residency and fellowship. Originally from Puerto Rico, Spanish is his native language. “I love going to the DR and working there,” he said. “Honestly, it’s not dissimilar from some poor communities in Puerto Rico,” he added, speaking of the of bateyes where the FMCI delegates volunteered — rural settlements of mostly Haitian families near the sugar mills of the DR. Because they aren’t citizens, they can’t access health care services in the country.
The delegation worked at clinics in the San Pedro de Macorís province, home to a medical school at the Universidad Central del Este. The trip was timed so participants could attend a family medicine symposium at the university. Colon-Mulero also worked with a Dominican pharmacist while he was there.
“It’s very motivating to work with locals and see how much they’re doing for their own country, which is part of the ethical considerations — there needs to be some local buy-in so there’s sustainability going forward,” he said.
Colon-Mulero also enjoyed working alongside other family medicine physicians spanning all stages of their careers. To anyone considering applying for FMCI’s next delegation, he advised, “Do it. Being amongst each other and doing meaningful work is therapeutic.”
Applications for both the 2026 FMCI scholarship (for one family medicine resident) and delegation opened June 1 and will be accepted through August 31, 2025. Click here to learn more.
