Taylor Cunningham was among a group of Campbell University students who traveled this summer to Ghana, on Africa’s western coast.
She, and the group, learned a lot.
Cunningham, in her third year at the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine, and the group visited six villages, where they held clinics and cared for 1,346 patients, about 200 each day, she said.
They experienced things they will never forget. Things that touched their hearts. Gaining memories they will cherish forever.
The students, with the help of attending physicians and mentors, cared for the patients throughout their time in Ghana, providing medical care and education.
They learned about each other.
“It was encouraging to see just how much trust and confidence the attendings had in us,” Cunningham said. “They guided us through the patient treatment but, as students, we were able to gain so much hands-on experience, which many others are not able to experience in their first years of medical school. By the end of the trip, you can see how much everyone had expanded their knowledge and the confidence they developed in treating a patient.”
One such experience, forever wrapped in that bundle of memories, involved a patient suffering from body pain.
The patient, too, needed new glasses. She pulled out a pair of old reading glasses and showed them to Cunningham. The glasses had no arms, and the woman used a string to tie them around her head.
We’ll get you some new ones, Cunningham told her. And no, she told the woman, you won’t have to pay for them.
“She was overwhelmed with joy and was so grateful that we were there to help her and others in her village,” Cunningham said.
The woman thanked the group by bringing oranges, which the students ate for dinner the next day.
“It was heartwarming to see that we had such a large impact on her and that someone with little money and resources was insistent on giving us something to show her appreciation,” said Cunningham, of Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
“She, like all of the other people we saw in Ghana, were extremely welcoming and gracious.”
Students who go to Ghana and other outreach destinations are volunteers.
“To see the students in their element, working with the people of Ghana who need their encouragement and help, leaves an impression on me every time,” said Kristin Johnson, administrative director of Community and Global Health at Campbell.
“The students jump right in and give their hearts to these people. It’s an amazing opportunity for the students to gather real-world experience, especially when they are confronted with unique challenges found overseas in underserved communities.”
This was the second time Campbell medical students have served in Ghana, which has a population of nearly 33 million. The students on the latest trip spent most of their time in Hohoe, in the southeastern part of the country. They traveled to surrounding villages, where they set up clinics and pharmacies.
Learning a lot. Experiencing much more.
“Going on outreach trips reminds me that medicine is so much more than identifying the cause of what is making the patient sick and treating them,” said Cunningham, who served the Community Care Clinic at the med school as a lab manager and served on a mission trip in Guatemala, as well as in Ghana.
Medicine, she said, is about supporting patients by listening to them, with compassion and understanding. Playing and coloring with children, keeping them entertained while treating their parents. Learning about patients’ lives, their beliefs and their culture. Incorporating those into their treatment plans.
“The mission trips with (the medical school) are life-changing experiences that have pushed me outside of my comfort zone and molded me into the person I am today,” Cunningham said.
“On the trips, I had the privilege of getting to meet wonderful people and become immersed in a variety of cultures. I also got the opportunity to work on a team with people from different professional and personal backgrounds. On top of that, we have great mentors who taught us how to accurately diagnose and treat patients in the best way possible while being compassionate and caring. All these aspects are so important in becoming a well-rounded physician, and my experiences on the mission trips will greatly influence the physician I become.”
Building personal connections. Treating them not only as patients, but also as human beings.
“I hope that, throughout my time as a physician, I continue to embody the idea of treating the patient as an entire human rather than treating just their symptoms.”
The trip to Ghana reminded Cunningham of her “why,” she said.
“During medical school, it can be hard to not get wrapped up in books and lose sight of why you decided to become a physician,” said Cunningham. “But getting to interact with patients and positively impacting their lives is fulfilling, and it allows you to get a peek into what you will be doing in the future.”
The Campbell group worked in collaboration with the local hospital and University of Health and Allied Sciences School of Medicine and Public Health in Ghana.
Johnson said, “Outreach trips like this are life-changing because they take us out of our everyday lives and help give perspective about God’s amazing love for humanity, the purposes God gives us to minister to the needs of others and helps foster a broader view of the world around us.”
Campbell medical school global outreach trips are planned for the Dominican Republic in October and Guatemala in December. Medical school students also stayed busy this summer setting up clinics about once a month in local underserved areas. This includes places such as Siler City, Raleigh, Dunn, Goldsboro and Durham.
The med school regularly utilizes its mobile clinics throughout Harnett County and other rural areas throughout North Carolina.
Cunningham thanked the mentors, including Dr. Joe Cacioppo, chair of Community and Global Medicine and associate professor of emergency medicine at Campbell, as well as Johnson and others.
“We had such an amazing team go to Ghana,” Cunningham said.
“Everyone worked so well together, and we all got to make long-lasting friendships while learning an immense amount about medicine. All of that would not have been possible without our mentors. They cannot be thanked enough for all the work that they put in to make these trips even happen and make them so wonderful. The students are lucky to have such great opportunities, including the mission trips, and I am grateful to have been a part of them.”