Burnett School of Medicine at TCU’s Global Health Elective Provides Lifelong Lessons to Students
Students at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University observed health care in Kenya and India as part of their Global Health elective.
FORT WORTH – As part of the Global Health Elective, several Burnett School of Medicine at TCU students made the long trip across the globe to Kenya and India to get a once-in-a-lifetime chance to learn from physicians of a different culture.
The objective of these trips is to expose students to how medical care is given at a facility in a developing country.
“My goal for students is for them to improve their skills and empathy,” said Ric Bonnell, M.D., Director of Service Learning at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. “So having that experience of trying to practice medicine in a resource poor setting helps you not take for granted the things we have here.”
Students were able to participate in daily inpatient rounds, outpatient clinics, ICU and emergency room management of patients.
“Having these kinds of experiences opens your eyes and gives you a lot of cultural competencies,” said Hari Raja, M.D., Executive Director of Phase 1 at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. “We see people from all over the world here in the U.S. and having that experience in seeing a different culture can really help you.”
Raja led a group of students to Bangalore, India for a month-long elective in January. Christopher Fernandes, ’24 M.D., Michael Krantz ’24 M.D., and Prema Vyas ’24 M.D., spent time seeing patients and gaining experience at Bangalore Baptist Hospital. They all witnessed how doctors in India handled serving patients with limited resources.
“I’m very grateful to the school and Dr. Raji for setting this course up,” said Christopher Fernandes, ’24 M.D. “There were a number of students who went on this trip and were significantly impacted by it and it’s going to change how I interact with all of my patients.”
The same can be said for students Sarah Person, ’24 M.D., Nicole Jamieson, ’24 M.D. and Madeline Keane, ’24 M.D. who spent a week at Ubuntu Clinic in Maai Mahui, Kenya.
Despite having limited resources, the students said they were impressed with how the doctors in Kenya were still upbeat and happy when it came to treating patients.
“I think this trip will really impact my future,” said Sarah Person, ’24 M.D. “I have an appreciation for what a blessing it is to have this medical knowledge and to be a physician. It’s all modeled at the fact that there are so few physicians in Kenya, and we were able to help.”