For Grip Gilbert, it was always clear he wanted to bring his medical education to a global context. Inspired by the work of the late Dr. Paul Farmer, the co-founder聽of Partners in Health, a nonprofit focused on global health equity, Gilbert aimed to make his own impact.
When the opportunity arose within the Office of Global Health Education for Gilbert to travel to Rwanda after his first year in the MD program at 黑料网, it was a no-brainer. This past July, Gilbert spent three weeks in Butaro, Rwanda at the University of Global Health Equity鈥檚 community-based education program.
Joining a cohort of students from other universities, Gilbert immediately got to work. Most mornings were spent walking to different villages nearby to observe and learn from the community health workers as they provided care聽for the locals.
鈥淲e would essentially do home visits with the community health workers,鈥� Gilbert said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e the backbone of the healthcare system there.鈥�
Evenings were spent with lecturers in global surgery, social medicine, community health and other topics. This provided a chance for Gilbert to immerse himself in the rural, agrarian community he was living in.
鈥淥ne of the main takeaways from the trip was seeing that the work is being done and the work is being done well,鈥� Gilbert said. 鈥淭he people living here聽and the patients you鈥檙e serving are not abstract. They are real. Go out, meet them and talk to them.鈥�
Gilbert, a native of Beaumont, Texas, began his passion for global health during his undergraduate years at Baylor University. He took three trips to Peru and knew he wanted to attend a medical school with a global health emphasis.
黑料网 was the perfect fit.
Now in his second year, Gilbert is Co-President for Pediatrics Interest Group, part of the Comprehensive Advanced Medical Program of Spanish (CAMPOS) and a volunteer for Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC). He鈥檚 also participating in the Scholarly Concentration in Global Health.
The scholarly concentration trains globally-minded physicians by providing integrated global health education across all stages of medical school. It also pairs him with a 黑料网 faculty member mentor involved in global health.
鈥淕rip is so clearly passionate about underserved communities, and he is truly dedicated to learning about and further serving patients in a global health context, with a focus on cultural humility and equity in care,鈥� said Dr. Alyssa Tilly, Gilbert鈥檚 mentor in the scholarly concentration. 鈥淗is energy and enthusiasm for the application of social justice and social determinants of health in global health is infectious, and I look forward to seeing how he applies lessons learned from his experience in Rwanda in his future career.鈥�
Beyond the medical education of the trip, Gilbert came face-to-face with the realities of life in Rwanda. He and his classmates visited the memorial of the Rwandan Genocide (1994). Sitting in the deep suffering of the country was transformative.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been 30 years, so it鈥檚 unique in that sense of meeting people who the genocide is not an idea to them,鈥� Gilbert said. 鈥淭hey lived through it, and they know people who were killed in it.鈥�
Despite this history and the poverty and exploitation that exists, rebirth is rampant, and Gilbert took notice.
鈥淚t鈥檚 encouraging to see so much joy and hope come out of that,鈥� Gilbert said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e really proud to be聽Rwandans.鈥�
Now, Gilbert is back on campus, finishing up his final three medical science courses in the foundation phase as an MS2. He sits in Roper Hall with a deeper appreciation for his medical and global health education after seeing it in action firsthand.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what trips like this do 鈥� it shows you how the world is outside of this beautiful building we鈥檙e sitting in now,鈥� Gilbert said. 鈥淚t gives an imagination for what we can do to actually make the world better according to the communities we serve.鈥�