Heritage Snapshot: Part 200

LOMA LINDA >> During Loma Linda University School of Medicine’s Centennial Celebration, starting in 2009, the Hope Channel produced “Vital Signs,” a thirteen-part television series hosted by Bonnie Chi-Lum, MD, and Dusty Rigsby, MD. It featured student physicians and faculty portraying the full spectrum of the School of Medicine. Topics included: Student Life, Basic Sciences, Basic Science Research, Clinical Medicine, New Technologies (including robotics and a laparoscopic trainer with virtual reality interface), Teamwork, Graduate Medical Education, Medical Ministry, Medical Missions, Diversity, Community Outreach, 12 Heritage Snapshots, Clinical Skills Education with Standardized Patients (actors), Patient Simulation Center (mannequins), Medical Ethics, Residency Matching, the Deferred Mission Appointee Program, and International Outreach, including Adopt-A-Hospital. The class of 2010, for example, adopted a hospital in Haiti; Hopital Adventiste. In addition to personally going to Haiti to provide care for the underserved there, they established a goal to raise $100,000 from friends and family for an endowment for the hospital before their graduation. Their motivation was to demonstrate their thankfulness for the opportunity they had to receive a Christian education in America and to attend medical school at Loma Linda University by giving back to needy humanity. According to David Puder, the student who spearheaded the effort, “The main thing is learning that life is a gift, and its our gift to give back to other people.” After a major earthquake hit the island on January 12, 2010, the class of 2010 already knew how they could best help. In addition to immediately helping the people of Haiti, the experience established a worldview in the minds of many to become medical missionaries. After visiting Haiti following the earthquake, Sarah Allen, a member of the class of 2010, discussed her experience: “I think, having seen firsthand the people who are suffering, getting to know them, hearing their stories, will always make me want to be a part of the mission experience and want to make a difference. When I know how fortunate I am to have received the kind of education I have, I want to do something to give back to these people. And I know it will always be a part of my career and my personal mission….” According to Henry Lamberton PsyD, Associate Dean, Student Affairs, this project complemented the historical focus of Loma Linda University as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian institution, in harmony with the Gospel Commission to go to all the world. The denomination’s mission hospitals around the world provide a real advantage for the School of Medicine in placing students overseas with Loma Linda graduates who can mentor them. Members of the class of 2010, in a private evening vespers, motivated other students to participate in the “Adopt a Hospital” project. They ate together, prayed together, and watched videos. According to Kyra Eddy, “The members of my class, the class of 2012, were infused with an energy and their passion to also adopt a hospital. We didn’t know where in the world it would be, or what hospital it would be, but we knew that we wanted to be a part of this.” After evaluating several facilities around the world, the class of 2012 adopted La Loma Luz Adventist Hospital, in Belize, which immediately became known affectionately by class members as “our hospital.” Their plans included participating in surgeries, operating clinics, and building projects. Ms. Eddy put the effort into perspective: “It is so hard to be a second-year medical student. We study all the time—twelve hours a day—pouring over our books—not knowing what detail is going to be on the next test. And to have a project like the Adopt-a-Hospital Project in Belize to think about, to dream about, to rally around, has been such a good thing for our class. People come up to me in between classes and they ask me, ‘What are we doing for the hospital? Are we buying our plane tickets yet? When are we going? What can I do to help?’ So it gives us something past medical school to work towards—a reason to do all this studying…everything that we’re going through now. It’s going to be worth it.” She continued: “Our class has a long-term commitment to La Loma Luz Adventist Hospital. We’re going now, but we also plan to go back later. Maybe some of my classmates will go there as missionaries later. When we have our 10-year class reunion, maybe instead of having a cruise, we’ll all meet back at our hospital in Belize and enjoy each other’s company and be able to use the skills that we’ve gained to do something good in another part of the world.”