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Alumni, Students Travel to Thailand for a Life-Changing Experience
ALUMNI, STUDENTS TRAVEL TO FOR A LIFE - CHANGING EXPERIENCE
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A team of 30 Kettering College students, faculty members, and alumni recently traveled to remote locations in Thailand, where they provided medical care to people of all ages. The team set up clinics in an orphanage in the jungle, on a university campus, in a Buddhist temple, and on a factory lot, returning home with vivid memories and new perspectives.
The 10-day trip, which took place during spring break in March, was sponsored by the College’s International Medical Missions (IMM) program, in partnership with Kettering Health Network. The IMM program typically sponsors two trips a year; in July 2019, a separate team traveled to Peru.
“These trips are one way Kettering College lives out its mission to make service a life calling,” said Steve Carlson, Kettering College chaplain. “Medical missions give students opportunities to use their knowledge and skills in meaningful service.”
Carlson, who organizes IMM trips, added that alumni participation is an important element of each trip. “Their involvement not only presents a wonderful opportunity to connect with their alma mater and give back in service; it also positively impacts the students, who learn as they work alongside experienced medical professionals,” he said.
The alumni department presented grants totaling $10,000 to five of the alumni participants. Among them was Karie McGill, a 2015 graduate of the physician assistant program.
The Thailand trip was 2019 nursing graduate Brooke Hartman’s second with IMM. In 2017, she traveled to Peru.
“There is just a deep sense of wholeness and closeness that is experienced only on these trips,” Hartman said. “It’s not just about physical healing for others, but also inner peace and purpose are gained when we make ourselves available to these incredible medical mission opportunities that Kettering College offers. On the last night, we were at the Bamboo School Orphanage, and we worshiped with the children. There was a moment when they were ever so sweetly singing songs in English about Jesus. I felt complete gratitude and amazement that these children know him and that our stories have the privilege of intertwining.”
Anisha Mathi, a 2015 physician assistant graduate, said the highlight of the trip for her was seeing Kettering College students grow spiritually.
“These trips are helping to fulfill our mission as a Christian institution, showing and sharing Jesus’ love by living his love,” said Mathi, the trip’s clinical operations leader. “It felt great knowing we could help so many people and that it was giving the students a huge opportunity.”
Shawnya Wilborne ‘02, sonography graduate and current faculty member
FEATURED
1 | Over 30 Kettering College students, led by Steve Carlson, Kettering College chaplain, additional faculty and alumni of Kettering College, spent 10 days in Thailand on an international medical mission trip.
2 | Kettering College students and alumni (left to right) Valeria Pineda, ‘19 nursing graduate, Macy Hulin, nursing student, Danielle Aka, ‘17 nursing graduate and OR nurse at Grandview Medical Center, and Emily Park, human biology student, take a picture with Mother Catherine, who runs The Bamboo School, one of the places where the team held a clinic and provided care.
3 | Brooke Hartman, ‘19 nursing graduate, holds a baby during a clinic at an orphanage in Thailand.
4 | Brooke Hartman provides care to a patient during a clinic in Thailand. This was Hartman’s second IMM trip.
THE SPIRIT OF INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL MISSIONS
By Danielle Aka , 2017 Nursing Graduate
My first IMM experience was as a Kettering College nursing student in 2016. It was exciting to find out that the College offered meaningful learning and service opportunities outside of the classroom. Now, as an alumna, I look forward to participating in these trips every year.
Medical mission work provides me with so much perspective and purpose. When the reality of nursing hits early on in your career, it can be easy to get caught up in the frustrating parts and to start losing compassion. However, the gratitude we encounter on these trips encourages me to push through the difficult times. The care that may seem so simple to us can be life changing for those in other parts of the world who are much less fortunate and without access to health care. There is something refreshing about watching the students experience that for the first time.
The IMM program provides health care professionals with the opportunity to mentor and teach Kettering College students valuable skills for their future careers. Each year, we have students who have never assessed a patient or even taken a blood pressure. By the time we left Thailand, students were teaching each other and sharing their experiences in ways that helped the team grow. It is always amazing to watch a group of people find common ground and purpose in serving others, and that is the spirit of the Kettering College IMM program.
