Christian Hospital Mungeli signs Agreement with Virginia Tech Medical School

by Global Ministries | published on Oct 10, 2014

The Christian Hospital Mungeli (CHM) and the Virginia Tech Carillion School of Medicine (VTCSOM) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will bring fourth year medical students from VTCSOM to CHM for an international medical rotation experience.

Earlier this year, Dr. Cynda Johnson, the Dean and Founding President of VTCSOM …

Earlier this year, Dr. Cynda Johnson, the Dean and Founding President of VTCSOM, and her husband, Dr. Bruce Johnson, an internal medicine specialist, travelled to Mungeli.

Dean Johnson says, “The impetus for the trip was to assess the hospital and its leadership as a potential site for senior medical students from VTCSOM to spend a month in Mungeli, working with Dr. Anil Henry and his staff. The situation we encountered exceeded all expectations and in all respects: the leadership, the staff, the quality of the practice of medicine and the variety of clinical cases. We were very pleased that the hospital accepted all patients, regardless of their ability to pay. The health care providers, with Dr. Henry’s lead, spent sufficient time with patients and their families to involve them in the care and decision making for the patient. Because the staff lives on the grounds in well cared for accommodations, doctors and staff were always available and patients were attended to by the physicians on multiple occasions daily.” The VTCSOM students will work hand in hand with Dr. Teresa Henry, Director of the Out Patient Department at CHM, so that they can assess patients from the first point of entry at the hospital through all phases of diagnosis and treatment.

As part of her visit, Dean Johnson spoke at the capping ceremony for the second class of nurses, comparing the capping ceremony to the “white coat” ceremony for new medical students. About the School of Nursing, the Dean went on to say: “The newly opened nursing school on site selects for students of the region likely to stay in the area after their training. We had a great deal of interaction with the students and their teachers and enjoyed it immensely. The faculty are continuously involved with the education of these young ladies (at this time they are all female). Included in their curriculum are important outreach opportunities. I visited an outlying village with them one day to observe an excellent, hands on, supervised teaching model which was also providing service to the village; that is, a model of service learning.”

The Dean and the faculty at VTSCOM have always planned to include global health study and an international rotation opportunity in its curriculum. Two other hospitals, in Ghana and Uganda, have been visited and selected by the Dean for inclusion in this unique medical school opportunity. After the Dean’s visit to Mungeli, Dr. Anil Henry visited VTCSOM and addressed the student body. As she introduced Dr. Henry, the Dean observed: “I cannot use enough superlatives for the chief executive of the hospital, Dr. Henry. He is an excellent physician and businessman with a model that works—the best I have seen in any lower resourced area. He has great vision and evidence that he can carry it out as he continues to build out the hospital complex and also the school. We visited the Rambo school on a couple occasions. The first visit was to see the new facilities and the second to enjoy the school’s yearly function, a series of performances by students of all classes. It was excellent—the students were engaged and well-rehearsed and with caring teacher oversight. We know how this school has thrived under the current leadership and believe it can continue to grow, resulting in an ever increasing number of students who will be positioned for success in adulthood.”

A Professor at VTCSOM, Dr. Colleen Craft, also visited Mungeli in late April with Assistant Professor Dr. Larry Ross, D.Min. to gain additional perspective on the new relationship. Dr. Craft has crafted the global health program for VTCSOM from its inception and now also works extensively with the Virginia Tech graduate program in public health to coordinate curriculums and share resources. Dr. Ross will assist in coordinating the travel program for all students involved in the international rotation program.

The selection process is underway, and the first VTCSOM medical students will arrive in Mungeli in the early part of 2014.