Clarkston, Georgia Dominican Republic Honduras
Nigeria
Uganda
2018-2019 Annual Report
DEAR GCMM SUPPORTERS, More than fifteen years ago, medical missions was in its infancy at the Gregory School of Pharmacy (GSOP). With a small group of students led by one faculty member to Ecuador, we could not envision the magnitude of growth and development that would follow. Now, the Gregory Center for Medical Missions (GCMM) housed within the GSOP at Palm Beach Atlantic University, is excited to become a more integral part of the medical missions space. During the 2018-2019 academic year, we hosted five medical mission teams to Clarkston, Georgia; Siguatepeque, Honduras; BanĂ, Dominican Republic; Egbe, Nigeria; and Kampala and Mukono, Uganda. Our teams consisted of 33 students and 19 faculty, alumni, pharmacy residents and others, representing pharmacy and nursing professions. They were able to care for 2,423 patients in need. This year marked our first collaboration with Egbe Hospital in Nigeria in which the team was co-led by a pharmacy faculty member and a Doctor of Nursing faculty member. Given the vast number of growing opportunities in this region, the GCMM has already committed to return in 2020 and is seeking additional ways to offer pharmacy and nursing support to this institution. In addition to the medical mission teams, the GCMM launched its inaugural forum on medical missions in January led by Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations. As part of this forum, many from PBA and the surrounding community were able to engage with Dr. Stevens on the important topic of serving abroad. In February, the Center hosted Ron Brown, associate director of Global Health Outreach, who provided team leader training. We offered our firstever independent study for a pharmacy student focused in the area of medical missions in the fall of 2018 in hopes of helping the student achieve her goal of becoming a long-term missionary pharmacist. I hope you are encouraged and inspired as you read through the initiatives in this report. It has been a blessing to serve as acting director for the GCMM. And I look forward to the exciting initiatives God has in store for us in the coming year as we strive to fulfill the Great Commission and our own mission: to foster the effective engagement of healthcare professionals in meeting the spiritual needs of under-served communities, both locally and around the world, via their attention to the communities’ physical and emotional health needs. Thank you for your continued support, generosity and compassion. Until ALL have heard the GOOD news,
Dana A. Strachan, Pharm.D., BCPS Acting Director
MISSION The Gregory Center for Medical Missions exists to foster the effective engagement of healthcare professionals in meeting the spiritual needs of under-served communities, both locally and around the world, via their attention to the communities’ physical and emotional health needs. Working collaboratively with strategic partners in the Christ-first medical missions arena, the Center’s initial focus is on the profession of pharmacy – supporting awareness and implementation of best practices, providing pharmacy service-associated training and sending well-prepared mission teams into the field.
GCMM IN ACTION
CLARKSTON, GEORGIA, USA SERVING CLOSE TO HOME
Dr. Jessica Lendorio, assistant director of the Experiential Program at GSOP, led this year's mission trip to Clarkston, Georgia, in partnership with Cedarville University. Often described as the Ellis Island of the South, Clarkston has become a destination for international refugees. Although it is a mere 1.4 square miles, there are approximately 40 nationalities and 60 languages represented in the population. Each day the team served in different clinics throughout the Clarkston region. At Grace Clinic, the team joined with doctors and nurses who volunteer on their days off. The Grace Clinic staff serves the community by providing free services to anyone needing assistance. When not serving at brick and mortar clinics, the GCMM team set up portable clinics in local apartment complexes. Students went door to door notifying residents of health screenings available to them: blood glucose, blood pressure, blood oxygen and pulse screenings. Reaching beyond medical needs, the GCMM team joined locals in the evenings as they experienced Clarkston's unique cultural highlights: one of the largest Hindu Mandirs in North America, a prominent Mosque, the Center for Human and Civil Rights and a wide variety of authentic ethnic foods from around the world. On the final day, the team took the opportunity to interact with the local children. "I saw first-hand that I was surrounded by people that saw no race, no color and no religion. You had people that couldn't speak each other's language, but they were all speaking the universal language of love!" Dr. Jessi Lendorio
4
TEAM MEMBERS
97
PATIENTS
20
DRUGS
SERVED
DISPENSED
March 2-9, 2019
HONDURAS
SIGUATEPEQUE The Honduras trip was led by two alumni, Dr. Lindsey Drescher (C/O ‘15) and Dr. Chris Schiel (C/O ‘14). The team was comprised of 12 PBA students who spent time in four different clinics: Iglesia Bautista Emanuel, Comayagua, El Socorro and Iglesia Bautista Betania. It is important we serve in Honduras because there are tremendous healthcare needs. Mosquito born viruses are very common. Acute diseases were also prevalent. There are countless unreached people groups in terms of both the Gospel and healthcare.The team presented the Gospel to patients and explained the hope and security they can find in Jesus Christ. The trip gave the team opportunities to improve their Spanish and find creative solutions when working with limited resources. Spiritual healing and healthcare education were provided in addition to both over the counter and prescription medications. Students returned from the mission field experiencing academic, professional and spiritual growth.
14 521 2,393
TEAM MEMBERS PATIENTS SERVED DRUGS DISPENSED
March 2-9, 2019
UGANDA
MUKONO DISTRICT Dr. Harm Maarsingh, associate professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Dr. Laura Rhodes, assistant professor of Pharmacy Practice, led GCMM's seventh annual trip to Uganda. Our teams have served more than 5,000 people in these seven years through medical camps in rural villages, most of which do not have access to medical care or even clean drinking water. Over the years, the medical camps expanded to now include dentists, HIV and family planning counselors, training and empowering women and entrepreneurial and public health talks. The Gospel is shared through kid’s clubs, teen talks, group presentations, skits and by praying with patients. By collaborating with Word in Deed Ministry, we were able to offer free, high quality healthcare and medications to hundreds of underserved people. Many diseases we treated are preventable. By offering training, health education and practical tools, such as mosquito nets, feminine hygiene products and shoes, we help reduce the risk of recurrence or transmission. Offering healthcare opens the mind and heart of the people within Uganda to the most important aspect of our ministry. We bring the hope of the Gospel and present the offer of salvation, changing lives and communities. Our team members are greatly impacted by the experience as well. As a result, participants have sponsored children to go to school and financially supported various community projects. Partnerships between the churches in Uganda and churches in South Florida have been established. Participants often express the impact the Uganda Medical Mission has had on their personal, professional and spiritual life. In fact, many often seek to return on one or more occasions to serve the people of Uganda. It is evident that our Medical Mission has greatly impacted the lives of the Ugandan people and GCMM team members over the last seven years.
16 903
TEAM MEMBERS PATIENTS SERVED
2,507 D I S P E N S E D
DRUGS
May 15-26, 2019
NIGERIA
EMPOWERING EGBE HOSPITAL Dr. Amos Abioye, associate professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Dr. Nakisha Kinlaw, associate professor of Nursing, led GCMM's first trip to Egbe, Nigeria. This was an exploratory trip to see how PBA can come alongside Egbe Hospital to encourage, equip and empower the hospital and School of Nursing staff. Although the meager 75-bed Egbe Hospital is located in a remote area of Nigeria, its staff cares for more than 1,500 patients each month and serves as a place of hope. The hospital is a lifeline to more than 500,000 people in the surrounding communities made up of farmers, merchants or cattle herders. While in Nigeria, Abioye worked with the pharmacy department, hospital administration, medical mobile clinic and physicians to teach about medical outreach, compounding training and innovative ways to increase the hospital revenue structure through the pharmacy department. Abioye was also instrumental in sharing the light, love and healing power of Jesus by making home visits to the sick and praying with them. Kinlaw and a PBA nursing student were instrumental in providing CPR and first aid training to 294 nursing staff and students. They lectured on effective nursing communication, developed a checklist of 55 clinical nursing skills for the nursing student procedure manual and started a nursing protocol manual for the Egbe hospital staff. Additionally, they met the healthcare needs of more than 150 people by providing dental screening, HIV testing, medical assessments, lab testing and medications to the rural village of Egbe. PBA is in the process of formalizing a partnership with Egbe Hospital. By bringing in medical professionals and establishing best practices in this remote area, the hospital will continue to serve as a beacon of hope and healing in the community for years to come.
3
TEAM MEMBERS
150
PATIENTS
180
NURSES
SERVED
TRAINED
May 16-June 1, 2019
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC BANĂ?, DR The GCMM Dominican Republic team was led by Dr. John Dougherty, director of the Pharm.D/MBA Program and assistant professor of Pharmacy Practice, and Dr. Samantha Axtell, assistant professor of Pharmacy Practice, and accompanied by a dedicated team of GSOP pharmacy students. We have partnered with Word of Life, a local ministry in the DR, for the past four years, which has increased the impact of the short mission trips. Each year has led to strengthened relationships and a wider reach for the team as well as long-term followup with patients. In a country that participates largely in occult practice and has only a five percent Christian population, the needs are plentiful: spiritual, physical and social. Common physical needs are: uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled high blood pressure, sexually transmitted diseases and numerous infectious diseases (e.g. Zika virus). Social needs are prevalent as well, due to overpopulation and a large Haitian migrant population. Spiritual needs are also evident, as seen in the large number of first-time decisions for Christ, which contributes to the zeal of the GCMM team to return again. The team visited several clinics near Paya and BanĂ. Each clinic is hosted by a local church and located in impoverished areas with little-to-no access to healthcare. Through the Word of Life clinics, Dominican pastors are able to meet people in their community who otherwise would not be willing to enter the doors of a church building. As a result of this effective outreach, countless people have received the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ over the past four years.
15 902 2,743
TEAM MEMBERS PATIENTS SERVED DRUGS DISPENSED
June 8-15, 2019
STORIES FROM THE FIELD DR. NAKISHA KINLAW - NIGERIA
Dr. Kinlaw described the aspects that made a transformative trip to Nigeria so memorable: "The daily worship, praise and prayer devotion of every hospital department and the School of Nursing each morning from 7:30 to 8. The gratitude and appreciation of every person served. The humility and kindness of the leadership and staff. The tangible presence of God that rests on the ECWA compound and all those who are blessed to serve there as the hands, feet, and mouth piece of Jesus Christ. And lest I forget, waking up and going to sleep to the unique sounds of birds, insects and reptiles that seem to offer God their version of worship, praise and prayer, which never ceased. This trip changed my life forever, and I look forward to returning to this beautiful place where God dwells."
ELIZABETH DAVIS - UGANDA & DR "When I first mentioned the idea of attending both the Uganda medical mission trip and the Dominican Republic medical mission trip I received a lot of funny looks and questions as to whether or not I am insane. My only response to this question was that it would be insane NOT to go on both. I am only in pharmacy school for four years and the ability to go on these trips becomes harder and harder the further into practice you get, so I decided to take as many opportunities as possible to go and serve others as Christ called me to serve. Missions is something that has been on my heart ever since I took my first international trip five years ago, and the Gregory Center for Medical Missions has allowed me to combine my passion and heart for missions with pharmacy in ways that I never thought possible. When I look at the trips that I took, I would be lying if I didn’t say that I expected them to be completely different from each other, but I was surprised to see the similarities between those we served in Uganda and those we served in the DR. All over the world people are longing to be loved and valued. This reality is what led to some of the best memories I have from this summer: holding someone’s hand as I prayed healing and peace over them and their family, counseling and connecting with a patient even though I don’t know an ounce of Spanish and getting up in front of a room full of people and telling them my “why” behind my mission trips. Even though I am terrified of public speaking, getting to stand up and tell a room full of people that my love for them is what brings me to travel around the world to them and that Christ loves them even more than I do formed a bond with them that I felt throughout the rest of that day. I am eternally grateful and feel incredibly blessed to have been able to serve on these teams, and my prayer through it all was that I would take every opportunity that God gave me to share his love with those around me. Life is short. I want to live it well."
FINANCES
FINANCIALS ENDOWMENT $652,763.20
TRIP EXPENSES Five trips in 2019: $95,493.39. After traveler payments, GCMM paid $33,993.39.
SCHOLARSHIPS The Gregory Center for Medical Missions is fortunate to be able to provide various trip scholarships for students and leaders. GCMM aims to provide financial assistance to those in need to give more students the opportunity to serve on a medical mission. The GSOP Great Commission Scholarship is awarded to two students participating in a GCMM trip and is based on Matthew 28:18-20: “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The scholarship was awarded to Elizabeth Davis and Callyn Parker in 2019. The Pharmacy Faculty Missions Scholarship is funded by pharmacy faculty members to provide students needing financial assistance the opportunity to participate in a mission trip. Elizabeth Davis received the Pharmacy Faculty Missions Scholarship in 2019. Additionally, The Gregory Center for Medical Missions provided a $500 sponsorship to all Palm Beach Atlantic University student participants. $16,000 was awarded to 32 students during the 2018-2019 academic year.
TEAM LEADER SPONSORSHIP GCMM paid full trip expenses for two team leaders for each trip, either faculty or alumni.
EVENTS
CONFERENCES GLOBAL MISSIONS HEALTH CONFERENCE Dean Jeffrey Lewis and former GCMM Coordinator Jacob Hawk attended the Global Missions Health Conference (GMHC) in Louisville, Kentucky, November 8-10, 2018. GMHC is the largest Christian medical mission gathering. It is invigorating to be surrounded by so many people on a mission to use healthcare as a platform to share the Gospel around the world. GMHC is a great opportunity to network with other medical missions organizations to learn about new and improved trainings, practices and technologies.
REMEDY Dr. Dana Strachan and GSOP student Elizabeth Davis represented GCMM at Remedy in Orlando, Florida, March 28-30, 2018. They hosted an exhibit booth and evaluated how GCMM can help increase the presence of pharmacy in the medical missions arena.
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY HEALTH FELLOWSHIP CCHF is a conference designed for people who see medicine as a calling and who are committed to missional, faith-driven healthcare. Gregory School of Pharmacy faculty members Dr. Jacintha Cauffield and Dr. Catherine Harrington presented Collaborating with Pharmacists to Extend Clinical Services in Chronic Disease Management at the conference.
ANNUAL FORUM In 2019 GCMM launched its first annual forum by hosting Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the Christian Medical and Dental Association and author of Jesus, MD. Stevens spent two days on campus engaging more than 300 students, faculty, staff and friends of PBA.
Stevens' Introduction by Dr. Dana Strachan, associate dean and acting director of GCMM: Tonight, it is an honor to welcome to the podium, Dr. David Stevens, one of the leading voices in the Christian medical missions arena. Dr. Stevens was, at one time, the medical director of the well-known Tenwek Mission Hospital in Bomet, Kenya. But, for the past 20+ years he has served as the chief executive officer of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations in Bristol, Tennessee. CMDA is a national organization of Christian healthcare professionals that seeks to change hearts in healthcare. He is the author of several encouraging books such as Jesus, MD and Beyond Medicine, and is the co-author of two very helpful resources on leadership: Leadership Proverbs and Servant Leadership. In addition, Dr. Stevens is a talented storyteller and a powerful Christian communicator with a passion for evangelism and a deep understanding for the integrity of God’s word. Whether he’s recruiting tribal leaders to provide volunteer support for a community health initiative in rural Kenya, preaching at American mega-church missions conferences, testifying before a panel of politicians on Capitol Hill or challenging an auditorium full of healthcare professionals like yourselves to better integrate their personal faith with their professional practice, Dr. Stevens knows how to hook and hold an audience. His ability to clearly communicate difficult spiritual truths, foundational biblical values, scientific facts and thorny bioethical issues gives him an authoritative voice to speak out frequently on behalf of the American Christian healthcare community. It’s also enabled him to initiate and lead a program that has trained thousands of Christian healthcare professionals how to use, but not abuse, their authority to be, and offer, spiritual light and salt in a world where so many patients need more than physical healing. As a leading, trusted spokesman for Christian healthcare professionals, Dr. Stevens has conducted thousands of media interviews, including JAMA, USA Today, Newsweek, NBC's Today Show, NBC Nightly News, BBC-World Television, CNN and National Public Radio. He has also appeared on FOX Family Channel, PAX-Television, Tech TV, The Odyssey Channel, America's Health Network and many other national outlets. He has written numerous book chapters and magazine articles. You may hear him as the host of the popular Christian Doctor’s Digest audio magazine, which has featured national leaders such as Kay Arthur, John Stonestreet, Jim Cymbala, Newt Gingrich and Luis Lugo. It is our privilege to have him join us here tonight as our keynote speaker for the inaugural forum of the Gregory Center for Medical Missions. Please join me in providing a warm PBA welcome to Dr. David Stevens.
PHYSICIAN LEANS ON CHRIST IN MISSION FIELD Dr. David Stevens, Gregory Center for Medical Missions Forum By: Jodi MacNeal
As a missionary physician in the 1980s, Dr. David Stevens practiced as an obstetrician, pediatrician, surgeon and infectious disease specialist – often all in the same day. Author of Jesus, MD, and CEO of Christian Medical and Dental Associations, Stevens served for a decade as a missionary doctor in Africa. He came to DeSantis Family Chapel Thursday, Jan. 10, as keynote speaker for the inaugural forum hosted by the Gregory Center for Medical Missions (GCMM). Stevens is well-known as “an authoritative voice speaking out on behalf of the Christian medical community,” said the center’s acting director, Dr. Dana Brown, as she welcomed him to the podium. Through anecdotes and encouragement, Stevens recounted the ways medical capabilities and leadership capabilities can merge into a life of service. His life’s work has been driven by Christ’s teaching in Matthew 16:24: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Stevens read the passage aloud from a small green Bible he drew from his breast pocket and returned to it several times during his 30-minute presentation and the Q&A session that followed. Stevens went on his first mission trip, to Haiti, after his freshman year of high school — a rarity in a time when most of his peers had never even been on an airplane. While there, he witnessed a nurse diagnosing and treating scores of sick people, because the region had no doctor. “Every once in a while she’d get up with one of the patients and walk into the side room and be gone for a few minutes,” he remembered. Curious, he peered inside. “There she was, down on her knees, praying with the patient, leading them to Christ. I never met her, couldn’t tell you her name. But God didn’t let me forget that.” After finishing medical school and completing his residency, Stevens rejected flashier job offers, knowing God was calling him to a life in the mission field. He and his wife, Jody, moved with their two young children to Kenya and he became one of three doctors at Tenwek Hospital in Bomet. When he arrived, Tenwek had 135 beds and averaged 185 percent occupancy. Often there were three patients to a bed, while family members slept on the floor around them. Stevens asked, “You know how many nurses we had there in that 135-bed hospital? Seven.” Eventually, under Stevens’ leadership, Tenwek would become one of the world’s leading missionary hospitals. In those early days, though, the staff struggled endlessly with overcrowding, lack of fresh water, electricity for only 11 hours a day and diseases that defied treatment. They cared for the sick and dying; for pregnant women in distress; for tiny children with meningitis, measles, malaria and tuberculosis.
In the early 1980s, Stevens and his staff faced the hospital’s first case of HIV-AIDS, the female victim sequestered and suffering. “If you’ve ever seen misery, it was her,” Stevens said. “There was no treatment back then. All the local people knew was if you got it, you died, and they were afraid to take care of her.” He remembers asking for a basin and some towels, and cleaned the woman himself. “The staff didn’t need a lecture. They needed an example. When the call leads you to follow Christ, it means you do the things he’d do. You’re him in human form, reaching out to meet people at their point of need.” At the end of each long day, Stevens tended to any outpatients who needed a doctor’s attention. That’s where he encountered a white-haired man with an enormous carcinoma ulcerating from his face. “Nothing you could do for him,” Stevens said. “We didn’t have chemo. We didn’t have radiation. I thought, ‘I’ll give him some pain medication and get on to the next patient.’ And God just kind of grabbed me by the nape of the neck and said, ‘Why did I bring you halfway around the world?’ ” Stevens gently told the man the cancer would, in the local vernacular, “finish him.” With great dignity, the elder gazed into Stevens’ eyes and replied, “Doctor, I know.” Stevens felt immediate remorse that he’d been about to rush through the visit and on to the next patient. He shared the story of Christ, knelt and led the dying man to salvation, and never saw him again. “But someday,” Stevens said, his voice cracking with emotion, “I will.” Board-certified in family practice, Stevens served at Tenwek from 1981 to 1991 and later as the director of World Medical Mission, the medical arm of Samaritan’s Purse. Currently leading the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, he recommended prospective medical mission team members attend the organization’s Remedy conference, which is geared toward providing and equipping committed health professionals to provide spiritual and physical healing, particularly in closed countries. The event will be held March 28-30 in Orlando. The forum audience was welcomed by University President William M. B. Fleming, Jr. After the address, guests attended a book signing and reception. Stevens also led the Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy chapel service the next day. One of the University’s five Centers of Excellence, GCMM was established in 2013 to enhance the effectiveness of Christ-first, short-term medical missions. It does so by identifying and communicating best practices; by providing education and training; by raising awareness of needs; and by connecting needs with resources. This year, GCMM teams will work domestically, in Georgia, and internationally in Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean.
CEO of Christian Medical and Dental Associations, David Stevens was the keynote speaker for the inaugural forum hosted by the Gregory Center for Medical Missions.
TEAM TRAINING The Gregory Center for Medical Missions was honored to host Ron Brown, associate director of Global Health Outreach, and his wife, Becky, to conduct missions training on February 2, 2019. Brown discussed with team leaders ways to improve team dynamics among inter-professional teams. He provided great tips relating to safety, security and risk management as well as best practices for transporting drugs in countries. Team leaders also received evangelism training. Fourteen faculty and alumni attended the training. Leaders left feeling equipped, encouraged and ready to serve.
INDEPENDENT STUDY Elizabeth Davis is a current GSOP student who has a heart for under-served populations and is following God's calling for her life to be a missionary. During the Fall 2018 semester, Elizabeth completed a two credit hour independent study under the leadership of Dean Strachan. During this time Dean Strachan got to know Elizabeth both professionally and personally and learned more about her desire to become a missionary pharmacist. The course included a variety of activities such as interviews with key stakeholders, development of a pharmacy tool for the missions field, weekly reflections and attendance at the Global Missions Health Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. During this experience, Dean Strachan was able to tailor Elizabeth's track to medical missions and affirm her calling as she matriculates through the GSOP program.
WHAT'S NEXT? During the 2019-2020 academic year the Gregory Center for Medical Missions hopes to: Maintain a strong presence at medical mission conferences Host our second annual forum on the health implications of human trafficking Formalize a partnership between PBA and Egbe Hospital in Nigeria Increase scholarship efforts in hopes of involving more students in the mission Participate in a Global Health Outreach trip
Will you join us in ensuring that eager, Christ-following health professionals are able to serve the Lord through global healthcare missions? Donate today at www.pba.edu/coe/gcmm
Gregory Center for Medical Missions 901 S. Flagler Drive, P.O. Box 24708 West Palm Beach, FL 33416
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