Dumke College of International Health

Collaborators:

Janelle Gardiner
Julie Rhodes
Julie Gee
Kristine Bouwhuis

Making connections and providing healthcare services, a group of 32 students and community members participated in the Dumke College of Health Professions International Healthcare Project. The group traveled through Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam working to improve healthcare processes in the communities that asked for help.  

Led by health professions faculty Janelle Gardiner, Julie Rhodes, Julie Gee and Kristine Bouwhuis, the group was honored with the 2018 Exemplary Collaboration Award.

In Thailand, group members spent time at an orphanage focused on rescuing children from trafficking. In Vietnam, they studied the difference in nursing education from that of the U.S. In Cambodia, group members provided well-child checkups for 350 children. They also taught neonatal resuscitation and other emergency procedures to healthcare employees.

“This trip will forever impact my professional life,” said Jackson Pohlman, a senior in nursing. “Nursing instructors, BSNs, RNs, LPNs, CNAs and non-medical professionals came together and helped teach a critical skill that will help the future generations in Cambodia. This trip was one that I will never forget. Thank you to the nursing instructors, donors and the group of students who helped make this experience happen.”

The Annie Taylor Dee School of Nursing and the Dr. Ezekiel R. Dumke College of Health Professions helped sponsor the event. Organizers plan to take groups each year to determine how their teaching was implemented and what follow up is needed.