Campbell Med Students Embark on Their 2024 Grand Adventure in Guatemala!

In December, students, faculty, and staff from Campbell University’s Jerry M. Wallace School of Medicine traveled to Guatemala for their final mission trip of 2024.

Seven students who participated in the journey recently conducted a show-and-tell-style presentation for the faculty and staff at the medical school. Another team member, Amber Schwartz-Mattern, produced an emotional video about the journey, which was shown before the students shared their experiences.

The group of student presenters consisted of second-year medical students Michael Dennis, Maggie Degen, and Elise Brewster, along with first-year students Sebastian Rosado, Kirk Mattern, Michael Giugliano, and Matthew Baker.

They discussed caring for nearly 500 patients in rural northwest Guatemala, addressing issues like hypertension, vision impairments, and acute illnesses such as viral and bacterial infections.

In certain areas of Guatemala, the water is not safe to drink, leading some residents to consume as many as seven or eight cups of coffee each day, which sometimes results in gastrointestinal and related issues, including heart palpitations.

Boiling water can serve to purify it, a concept some individuals only became aware of after the students provided guidance on it.

Small actions can lead to significant outcomes while simultaneously cultivating relationships. Educating and learning about the impact of prayer. Life-altering experiences and human bonds.

For the students, educators, and patients alike. While medicine and treatment are crucial, these mission trips offer so much more.

There is much that medicine can achieve, the students reflected. Yet there is so much more that it cannot.

“The children were undoubtedly one of the best aspects,” Brewster remarked while recalling the moment she treated her first patient on the inaugural day of Campbell’s clinic.

“It was a girl about my age, and she had … delivered a baby two months prior. I can’t even recall what her visit was for … but at the conclusion of our meeting, I was able to pray with her for her health and for her baby,” Brewster shared. “The way she looked at me afterward … that really resonated with me, that connection.

“We didn’t share the same language at all, but … it was genuinely sweet. We only had a single day together, yet I will remember her forever. I believe that she will also remember me for a long time; that was truly wonderful.”

Dennis urged medical school faculty to motivate their students to undertake and finish a mission trip.

It holds significance.

“The individuals there genuinely care,” he said regarding the patients. “Even if your contributions are minimal, they appreciate your mere presence, and they do not complain about their situations or conditions.”

Providing hope and transforming lives, even if the trip only lasts a few weeks, still leaves a lasting impact.

“I only think of the hope that was instilled because of students like these,” stated Dr. Joe Cacioppo, chair of Community and Global Medicine and associate professor of emergency medicine at Campbell.

“The hope left behind altered their spirits, changed their attitudes, and gave them hope, which was transformative. Our students genuinely connected with the patients,” leaving those patients thinking, “They’re not merely dispensing a pill; they truly care about us. These individuals go because they care deeply. That’s the distinction. That’s what these students contribute.”

Before the December visit to Guatemala, the Dominican Republic was the last destination for the medical school. Over the summer, a Campbell team visited Ghana in West Africa.
Medical school students also remained active over the summer, organizing clinics approximately once a month in local underserved communities, including areas like Siler City, Raleigh, Dunn, Goldsboro, and Durham.
The medical school consistently employs its mobile clinics across Harnett County and other rural regions in North Carolina.

Additional mission trips are planned for 2025.