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| Medical students, faculty and supporters from the Whiddon College of Medicine show off their school spirit during a medical mission trip to southwest Rwanda. During the four-week mission, the group volunteered alongside Rwandan teams at a rural referral hospital. |
Led by the Christian Medical Ministry of South Alabama (CMMSA), the 12 senior medical students and more than 15 clinical faculty members, residents, advanced practice providers and support personnel participated in the trip. They worked alongside physicians, medical students and staff to care for patients at Kibogora Hospital, a rural referral hospital in southwest Rwanda, from Jan. 30 to Feb. 25.
Some of the medical students volunteered as assistants and scrub techs for surgery cases, while others helped treat patients in the hospital wards.
“I signed up to get out of my comfort zone, to see more of the world than my own little bubble, and, of course, to help a group of people much different than myself,” said Matthew Handley, a senior medical student, who is pursuing a career in urology. “I wanted to use the information I learned to make a difference in a way that would leave an impact on the world and on myself.”
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Colorectal surgeon Lee Grimm Jr., M.D., physician assistant Meredith Grimm, and medical student Sarah Gross care for a surgical patient. |
The students said they began to look forward to interacting with the little girl in the hospital each day.
“It was her time in recovery in the hospital that made such an impact on me,” Handley said. “The joy in her face every time she saw us during rounds or out and about in the hospital was so life-giving. She became a quick favorite of almost anyone who interacted with her.”
The mission trip, an elective for seniors, allowed the medical students to see healthcare delivered under austere conditions. For instance, Kibogora Hospital is so remote that any blood products needed for transfusions must be delivered by drone.
“It was really an amazing experience,” said Madeleine Boudreaux, a senior medical student who plans to train in internal medicine next year at Mount Sinai Morningside West in New York. “It taught me to be really thankful for the resources I have in the United States. I learned that you can figure out a lot even without (advanced) labs and imaging. I hope to carry that into my future practice.”
Boudreaux said she learned to work through language barriers while addressing an ailing woman who arrived with low blood pressure and a low oxygen saturation rate. After reviewing the medical records, the team stopped the medication the woman had been taking for hypertension and ordered a chest X-ray, ultimately diagnosing her with pneumonia.
In another case, a 17-year-old girl was being treated for advanced rheumatic heart disease, a severe heart condition that can develop from untreated strep throat – a complication rarely seen in the United States.
“We went patient by patient through the wards,” Boudreaux said. “We had labs to review and we focused on one or two patients who seemed the sickest.”
Handley said the experience taught him how similar people are, despite cultural differences. “At the end of the day, we are all people with similar goals, dreams and mindsets,” he said. “It was cool to see how quickly our two groups could come together in a community that glorified God together and strived to promote healing.”
Hart agreed. “We witnessed two cultures coming together for a common purpose and giving back,” she said. “They changed us and helped us.”
