Annually, a host of MUSC faculty, students, and staff conduct work abroad, often in high-risk regions—but some travel to countries with greater political or environmental risks.
With close support from the Center for Global Health and respective colleges, these MUSC representatives navigate travel plans to high-risk areas with caution and care, but what happens when a sudden crisis changes everything?
As part of the university’s international travel policy, MUSC faculty, staff and students must register their travel abroad via the University’s Travel Registry, an online portal administered by the Center for Global Health. A traveler’s registration is critical as it provides access to MUSC’s global assistance provider and insurance, and ensures the University can locate and communicate with travelers when responding to an emergency or critical incident abroad.
Young-Min Park, the center’s global travel safety and security coordinator, carefully reviews each student and trainee registry submission for international travel to provide guidance and recommendations based on the more high-risk locations.
Park underscores that travel registration isn't just bureaucracy—it's about protection.
"When something unexpected happens – If there is an earthquake in Tokyo or a train derailment in London – the Center needs to know if one of our people is there to reach out and make sure they are safe,” Park said.
Assessing the risk of travel
MUSC has a duty of care when sanctioning travel for students.
When considering travel to countries flagged by the U.S. Department of State as high risk, the stakes—and the preparations—are elevated. The State Department uses a four-tiered advisory system that identified the threat level of a given country, with Level 4 locations being the most at-risk.
Within each travel advisory, details of the specific on-the-ground circumstances that contribute to the guidance are shared with prospective travelers as they consider or prepare for their planned arrivals.
MUSC students seeking to travel to Level 3 or Level 4 destinations (high risk) must first be approved by the MUSC International Travel Oversight Committee, comprised of MUSC administrators and faculty to review and assess. From July 2025 to June 2025, 42 percent of student travel took place in high-risk destinations.
When traveling to high-risk locations, Park emphasizes: "Just because a place is considered high risk doesn’t mean you’ll be in danger the moment you land. You need to understand why a place is rated that way—and prepare accordingly."
