Four Indiana University School of Medicine students will explore their unique interests in global health as Slemenda Scholars this summer in Eldoret, Kenya. The IU Center for Global Health selected rising second-year students Jonathan Graber, Elena Rogers, Allison Stogsdill and Aliya Storms for the prestigious summer experience with AMPATH.
“Each year we offer this unique learning opportunity to exceptional new IU School of Medicine students. Many of them have personal or family experiences that motivate them to pursue careers in caring for people in resource-limited communities,” said Debra Litzelman, MA, MD, MACP, director of education for the IU Center for Global Health. “We know that medical trainees who participate in these early educational experiences often become healers in communities where the needs are the greatest,” she continued.
AMPATH, the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare, is a partnership between academic health centers around the world to deliver health care, train the next generation of health care providers and conduct research to improve lives. IU School of Medicine physicians began the partnership with Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) and Moi University School of Medicine in 1988. IU leads the AMPATH consortium of 16 leading universities and has had full-time faculty in Kenya for more than 30 years. The partnership now also includes partnerships in Ghana, Mexico and Nepal.
Graber and Storms share family connections to Kenya and look forward to the immersive Kenyan educational and cultural experience. In addition to learning more about the care, research and educational components of the AMPATH partnership, each student will have a faculty mentor and complete a scholarly research project.
“My father moved us to Kenya to cover pediatric and internal medicine staffing gaps and eventually to build a pediatric curriculum for East African clinical officers,” recalled Storms, a graduate of Biola University in California who attends IU School of Medicine in Indianapolis. “When I was 5 years old, my family traveled to Kenya intending to stay for one summer, but that summer turned into 13 years split between Kenya and Indianapolis.”
“Growing up, I witnessed how social determinants like access to clean water, education, and nutritious food shaped health outcomes,” she continued. “Working internationally, whether part-time or full-time, has always been my long-term career goal in medicine.” While in Kenya, Storms is interested in working on projects related to mental health with Dr. Matthew Turissini, assistant professor of clinical medicine at IU School of Medicine, and the mental health team at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya.
Graber set his sights on a career in medicine as a young child and was influenced by his grandfather’s 40 years of clinical service in Kenya capped off by a final return trip just two years ago at the age of 89. A family trip to Kenya in 2015 cemented his passion. “It was there I saw, for the first time, the lasting impact one person's care and dedication can have on a community,” said the Taylor University grad. The AMPATH partnership drew Graber to IU. “I am excited to combine my personal and professional aspirations through the unique opportunities at IU School of Medicine, contributing to a future where I can emulate my grandfather's legacy.”
Graber is an aspiring hand surgeon who plans to work with Dr. Jason Axt, assistant professor of clinical surgery at IU School of Medicine and AMPATH Kenya’s pediatric in-country lead, for his summer project. He is also part of the Biomedical Engineering and Applied Medical Technology scholarly concentration at IU School of Medicine’s West Lafayette Campus.
The Slemenda Scholars program began in 1998 and honors late IU faculty member Charles Slemenda, DrPH, who had a passion for international medical education. Dr. Slemenda spent three years in Lesotho working as a public health worker after completing his MPH in health services administration. The award in his name helps pay for travel, room and board and a small stipend for the students to participate in the partnership. IU School of Medicine-Terre Haute and IU School of Medicine-West Lafayette join the IU Center for Global Health Equity this year in providing funds to support this unique learning experience.
Rogers has a personal interest in gastroenterology, surgery and women’s health. “I know that a cross-cultural partnership will lead to more innovation, compassion and equity. I am excited to work on a project in Kenya that engages the resources, innovation, and imagination of Kenyans and Hoosiers alike,” said the Denison University graduate who attends medical school on the West Lafayette campus.
Rogers spent last summer walking the "El Camino de Santiago de Compostela," a 500-mile pilgrimage beginning in the French Pyrenees, spanning across Spain, and ending in Galicia. She reflected on the way she and her fellow travelers learned from each other along the journey. “In the same way that a global community of pilgrims taught me new ways to find value in my work, communicate with others, and to treat blisters, a global health partnership reveals how to better treat patients, conduct research and care for others.”
Growing up in a small, rural Indiana community drives Stogsdill’s desire to become a doctor and her participation in IU School of Medicine’s Rural Medical Education Program on the Terre Haute campus. “Living in a medically underserved county with no public transportation, no hospital, one centrally located ambulance bay, and reliance on volunteer fire departments fundamentally motivated me to work to get to where I am today, with the intention of addressing provider shortages and lack of access to equitable healthcare in rural Indiana,” said the Hanover College graduate. “Watching those I love refrain from medical care in fear of the financial burden it carries fuels my devotion to bring affordable and suitable care to disadvantaged populations.”
Stogsdill plans to work with Dr. Maria Srour, pulmonary critical care post-doctoral fellow, on a study assessing the critical care needs at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya. “This global health experience through AMPATH will provide a defining opportunity to connect with and learn from other cultures, physicians and colleagues,” she added. “I am drawn to the program's focus on community-centered healthcare and integration of research, clinical exposure, and cultural immersion.”
Over the past 35 years, more than 1,200 Indiana University medical trainees have visited the AMPATH partnership in Kenya and more than 400 Kenyan trainees have learned alongside their peers in North America. An educational endowment to fund exchange opportunities for Kenyan and IU medical students has been established to honor the years of service and global impact of Bob and Lea Anne Einterz.
Other unique global health opportunities at IU include a Global Health Residency Pathway available to medical residents in a variety of disciplines, quarterly Global Health Research Speaker Series and Global Health Scholars Day.
