By Laura Seale, Nursing Team
We have now completed 6 successful clinic days. We’ve sweated a lot and consumed more bottles of water than I ever thought was possible. But none of this compares to the help that we have given Cambodians. It’s been hard work, but extremely rewarding. Today is our first full day in Siem Reap and it has been filled with Continue reading
By, Haley Sullivan, Nursing Team
A verse from our Cambodian medical mission 26 day devotional states: “But Lord, Gideon asked, “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord answered, “I will be with you and we will strike down all the Midianites together.”
Today, we took on our third clinical day in a row in the village of Kbal Koh. For some, it seemed as through the long, busy days in the Cambodian heat Continue reading
by Grace Chrisco, Nursing Team
Hello! I can’t believe we have finished our 5th day of clinic and our 10th day in Cambodia. By now we are all very comfortable with one another and it truly feels like we are not just a team but a family, too. Whenever we sit down for a meal our chit chat and laughter fills the room. At times, it doesn’t quite feel like we are halfway around the world.
This morning a few of us got up to workout by the pool while others slept in and rested to prepare for another day of clinic. By 0730 we all met in the hotel cafe for breakfast. As per usual, breakfast consisted of rice, a staple to all Cambodian meals. The hotel did their best to accommodate our American palates by providing scrambled eggs, french fries, donuts and delicious fresh fruit. After refueling, we got into vans and set off for Continue reading
Emma Price, Pharmacy Student
Good Morning or Evening depending on which side of the world you are reading this post from. This post is about 5/21/18.
Some of the team started their morning with a pool side work out. The other half of the team took that extra time to sleep. We ate breakfast at our beautiful hotel before leaving for clinic. You can tell the hotel is trying to accommodate for us Americans because there are french fries at breakfast and scrambled eggs instead of their regular fried eggs. But don’t worry there is still the traditional rice and fish for breakfast.
Everyone knew today’s clinic was going to be a little different because Continue reading
By: Cayley Norton, Nursing Team
Wow, I can’t believe we’ve been in Cambodia for a week! So much has happened these last seven days from visiting markets, learning of Cambodian history, traveling and most importantly our clinics. Today is Sunday and a day of rest. We are very thankful for this day.
It was a blessing to be able to sleep in today. We got to experience church the Cambodian way! It is really neat to see how other cultures serve our awesome God. He created this magnificent world and it’s just so inspiring to celebrate it with all of his children. Continue reading
A glimpse into the treatment rooms
By Allison Courtney, Nurse Practitioner student
Thursday May 17, 2018
First official day of clinics! After three full days of taking in the new sights, sounds, and unique culture of the Cambodian people we set out this morning for our first clinic hosted at Freedom’s Promise Sewing Center. During breakfast there was a sense of anticipation and curiosity unsure of what we would be doing today but excited to see the day unfold. We circled up with students, faculty, and translators prayed for the day and moved out in faith.
As a team we saw the provision of God in so many ways both big and small. From covered waiting and treatment areas to powerful cross cultural prayer experiences God had clearly prepared a way for us and showed up in the details. Continue reading
by Jacqueline Murphy, Nursing Team
Chomreabsuor! (Hello!)
We had a bright and early morning today that started off with each off us packing up our luggage to head out to a new hotel, brand new, at that. The hotel we will be traveling to is only 10 days old. As you can imagine, the entire team was very excited about this new adventure. Before we would go there, we set off to our third clinic here in Poipet. This is our third in a row and we were tired but so very excited to spend another day serving as the hands and feet of God.
When we arrived at the Bridge of Hope, we experienced another powerful Continue reading
Megan Heath, pharmacy team.
Today we started off our day with breakfast at the Destiny Cafe. It was very welcoming and homey with pancakes and syrup along with omelets and fruit. After breakfast we traveled to the Bridge of Hope Center and were greeted by lots of little kids in the middle of a school lesson. Then we went into the clinic site and met with Perlito. He gave us an amazing devotional that was helpful and inspirational to start our day off and centered around breaking through any downfalls or doubts. We also had a great time worshiping through songs lead by his two daughters. After devotional, we began to set up and organize our clinic for the day. We had a lot more space and tables to work with than at the last clinic site so everyone was thankful for that!
Things at the clinic already started off better and smoother than the day before I think, everyone was getting more used to their individual roles, but were still integrating as a team to get work completed. Throughout the day kids would Continue reading
by Kendall Schoenekase, Graduate Nursing Student
The morning began bright and early today as we set off for the 6 hour drive to Battambang
at 6:30am. In addition to our Cambodia team, our Freedom’s Promise translators, who will be with us during out clinics in Poipet, joined us on the buses. This was a wonderful experience, as the translators began teaching us about the Cambodian culture, the villages, their home towns, etc. from their perspectives. We listened to Cambodian music, tried Continue reading
By Hannah Stirnaman, Nurse Practitioner Student
Today was our second full day in Phnom Penh and the last day for us to soak in the atmosphere before traveling to Battambang.
Our first stop of the day was to The Choeung Ek Genocidal Center to tour the killing fields. After reading books and watching films dedicated to this topic, it was overwhelming to see the fields in person. Although this was a somber topic, understanding more of the Cambodian history shed light on the resilience of these amazing people.
After touring the fields, the group spent time getting shoes made from a local shop here in Phnom Penh. Each shoe is made Continue reading
By Shannon Stuart, Pharmacy Team
We have survived our first full day in Cambodia which was accompanied by 89 degrees and 77% humidity weather. It was scorching hot, but fortunately, everyone was able to do every event and the worse outcome today was some sunburn. We started out with some wonderful breakfast which included much of the same foods we eat in America and then a beautiful devotional to begin our day. Our first adventure was familiarization of the city. We walked for about 2 hours and were able to see many monuments. We also designated a special meet up place if someone strayed away from the crowd on accident. I have attached some of the photos of the monuments for you to see them. There was an independence monument which signified independence from the French (a.k.a. meet up place). It has the lotus’s flower which carries a very strong meaning. To the Cambodian’s it means renewal which we saw throughout the whole walk. 
Another monument which is the one pictured with 2 Vietnamese soldiers and a Cambodia woman in front carrying an infant, demonstrates celebration from liberation from the Khmer Rouge. Khmer Rouge was the group of Cambodian’s who were communists and helped carry out the devastating Cambodian genocide. The monument would have been a great gift, but it signifies that the Vietnamese were happy for them, but they wanted the Cambodians to know Continue reading
By Kelsey Bivacca, Nurse Practitioner student
Today we arrived at the Nashville airport on May 12th at 5:30am, and took off to Detroit, then Detroit to Seoul, then Seoul to Phnom Penh. Currently I am sitting on the plane about to depart to on the longest leg of the trip to Seoul, and am feeling upbeat and excited for the new environment we’re about to be entering.
Mid flight one of the passengers needed medical attention and Continue reading
The Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame announced the seven health care professionals selected as this year’s inductee class at a luncheon on Belmont University’s campus today. With a mission to honor men and women who have made significant and lasting contributions to the health and health care industries, the Hall of Fame was created in 2015 by Belmont University, the McWhorter Society and the Nashville Health Care Council, a founding partner. The seven honorees will be inducted at a ceremony in October. Continue reading
Running around a crowded gym carrying paper money and wearing a nametag detailing the role they were given, nearly 100 Belmont College of Health Sciences and Nursing (CHSN) faculty and staff filled the Sports Science Center on Wednesday, April 25 to participate in the Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS). Booths representing community agencies (social services, school, the bank, a pawn shop and more) lined the walls as participants assumed their roles. Some were experiencing homeless, others represented single parents and even more participated as families with many children — all simulating exactly what it is to live in poverty across America. Continue reading
Belmont’s physical therapy (PT) class of 2019 recently provided a health fair for 100 fourth grade students from East Cheatham Elementary School. The PT students in Dr. Pat Sells Health and Wellness Class prepared lesson plans and activities for a variety of health and wellness related topics.
The kids were exposed to topics such as bone health, lung health, stress management and physical activity. The PT students have been providing this health fair for numerous years, teaching lessons to over 1,000 elementary students.
Faculty and students from Belmont’s College of Health Sciences and Nursing were recently invited guests for a presentation and small group discussion at the Metro Health Department. As part of the new ‘Conversations on Health in Nashville’ speaker series, Senior Vice President of Healthy Communities at The California Endowment Dr. Tony Iton spoke about the impact that where you live has on individual health.
More information on this event can be found here.
Image (from L to R): Dr. Cathy Taylor, dean of the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences and Nursing; occupational therapy doctorate students Karon Uzzell-Baggett (Class of 2019) and Leah Carlisle (Class of 2018); Dr. Iton and Dr. Sanmi Areola, Metro Public Health Department deputy director
Students from the Belmont University College of Health Sciences and Nursing, with Dr. Natalie Michaels, participated in a Health Science Career Fair at Hillwood High School on Friday, March 23. High school students had a chance to interact with Belmont students to learn more about the fields of nursing, occupational therapy and physical therapy.
The Doctorate of Physical Therapy Class of 2019 received an esteemed visitor to their Health Care Systems Class taught by Associate Professor Dr. Natalie Michaels this week.
Congressman Jim Cooper came to talk about the current state of health care in the United States. He talked candidly about the current situation in both the federal and state governments regarding health care, focusing his talk on physical therapy and answered questions for the students.
In Fall 2017, an inter-professional team consisting of faculty from Pharmacy, Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Social work, Physical Therapy, Public Health and a staff member from University Ministries designed and delivered an event addressing how personal spirituality can influence interactions with patients. Student feedback from the event was positive overall, with suggestions to provide additional events addressing spirituality, add perspectives from other health professions and lengthen the event to allow for more questions and discussion. Faculty added that including an alumni panel might be of additional interest to students and placing students at tables rather than rows of seats might further facilitate group discussions. Continue reading
Students from Belmont’s College of Health Sciences and Nursing attended the Leadership Health Care Delegation in Washington, D.C. this past week with Dr. Natalie Michaels from the Departments of PT and OT. Speakers presented information regarding issues related to health care currently being debated in congress at the federal level. The students were able to mingle with congressman and people in health care financing from Central Tennessee, all in our nation’s capital.
Participating students included Eric Bengtson, doctoral candidate in physical therapy, Andrew Wagner, doctoral candidate in occupational therapy and Morgan Clouse, doctoral candidate in nursing. After meeting the group, Congressman Jim Cooper stated that he was greatly impressed with their professionalism.
Students from the Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Pharmacy programs at Belmont University joined forces for the Geriatric Interprofessional Team Training at MeHarry Medical College recently. This training session, held yearly, offers an opportunity for participants to collaborate with students from other universities and different disciplines in the health care arena to offer the best treatment plan for a patient in a case study. It allows students to learn about other disciplines and how their work helps the overall patient care team. More than 450 students from universities across the State of Tennessee participated.
In total there were 67 Belmont pharmacy students, and 5 Belmont therapy students in attendance. This was the first time that this interprofessional group included the occupational therapy profession, providing students with a unique experience they hadn’t had before.
Belmont faculty leading the charge were Natalie Michaels from PT and OT, and Angela Clauson, Cathy Ficzere, Ashton Beggs and the Dean David Gregory from Pharmacy.
One final group picture before loading up the vans!
So we have finally made it back to the states. A bittersweet goodbye to the beautiful city and people of Guatemala. It has been a life-changing experience for all of us involved. There isn’t a single one of us that will not keep a part of this trip with us at all times.
We really love this view!!!!
As promised, we have put together a little something special for our final post… each member of the groups has written a little about their trip. Below is a snippet of each member’s favorite thing about the trip and what they are going to miss most!
Katie Smith: My favorite thing about this trip was how everyone came together and worked as one team. It seemed like we had all known each other before, but I only knew one person coming and now I am leaving with so many friends. I will miss the kind hearts of the people and how they are so appreciative of what they have.
We will miss you, Antigua!
It’s the final day in Antigua, Guatemala, and we’re not ready to leave this beautiful place. The people of the community have been so gracious to us. This experience has been a greater gift to us and individuals and future healthcare professionals than we were to the patients we saw throughout the week.
Still not use to the beautiful spots hidden throughout the city.
Today was our day to relax, enjoy the city, and adventure a little. We ended up in two groups for the day, one zip lining and one going for a hike up a volcano. The volcano goers were up and out early this morning headed for the most National Geographic worthy scene around. The volcano towered at about 8,300 feet, but we only climbed a portion of it to get to the top…we weren’t crazy enough to endure the whole climb. From where we were dropped off, it took about an hour to hike to the top and a little more than an hour to hike down. We were then treated to a fulfilling lunch followed by hydrotherapy baths/soaking pools of the hot springs. Our other group of zip liners were able to sleep in a little in comparison to the volcano group, but spent the morning soaring through the skies of a local coffee plantation.
It will be sad to not all be together next week!!
¡Hola!
Después de tres días largos pero gratificantes, ha cambiado un poco el ritmo de hoy. Fuimos a la plantación de café de Pablo, La Azotea, para una clínica abierta a los trabajadores. Tuvimos que ver a los pacientes rápidamente hoy para que pudieran volver al trabajo. ¡Fue increíble tener todo el groupo unido para otro día lleno cuidado interdisciplinario de pacientes.
Who wouldn’t love starting your day with this sight!?
Today was day four! We have made it to the middle of our trip… boy how things have truly fallen into place. Every day it feels as though we grow more familiar and aware of our surroundings, but I don’t know if we will ever get use to this view!!!! [The picture doesn’t do this scenery justice!]