Honors Link

In Fall 2013, I participated in the SIT study abroad program in Dakar, Senegal, which allowed me to conduct my thesis research at a prosthetics and orthotics rehabilitation center. I have always been interested in medicine, but my passion really started to grow when I found prosthetics and orthotics: the perfect blend of medicine, engineering, psychology, and art.

My research hit the ground running the first day when I saw a woman with an amputation walk for seemingly the first time with her new prosthesis. Over the course of my time there, I experienced many of these same beautiful moments when patients and families were given their lives back. Unfortunately, I also witnessed many moments of hardship, when finances held people back from experiencing that freedom. After observing for a few weeks and conducting several interviews, I felt like I had become part of the clinic, and my passion for international work greatly intensified, leading to my decision to become an international prosthetist/orthtotist in post-war regions of Africa.

Upon my arrival to the United States, I continued working with my thesis mentor, Dr. Kenneth Maes in the Department of Anthropology, who studies Medical Anthropology in Ethiopia, and Dr. Gloria Krahn in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences who studies disability and public health. Dr. Krahn invited me to attend a conference held by Amputee Coalition, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to help amputees regain their lives back physiologically as well as psychosocially; the conference is called the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board Committee Annual Meeting (SciMAC). SciMAC is composed of highly influential health professionals who are all allied to help the amputee receive the best care. Dr. Maes and Dr. Krahn both highly encouraged me to attend, as it would give me the opportunity to understand the programs already set in place to help the amputee, connect with individuals who have been in the field, and understand the problems that are currently facing the field. This information would be able to give me further perspective on my research in Senegal as well as provide a contrast to the needs of the developed and developing world. Thanks to the Honors Experiential Scholarship, I was able to travel to Texas and participate in the conference.

The focus on SciMAC was on the problems that are present in most effectively treating patients, ranging from Medicare to psychosocial support to rehabilitation institutions. I was given a chance to speak about my research and the challenges I saw present in Senegal. The professionals there were able to encourage me and give me a new perspective on my field that not only adds a new dimension to my thesis but also gives me new insight in my studies that I could not have gotten otherwise.