Kayla Sompel gains medical experience in Kenya



Kayla Sompel, a junior pre-medical sciences major and chemistry minor, traveled to Mombasa, Kenya with International Medical Aid, a program started by Johns Hopkins Medical School. This three-week program brings together pre-med students, pre-physician assistant students, nursing majors and residents to experience medical practices in a developing country. Kayla volunteered at the Coastal Providence General Hospital, the second largest government funded hospital in Kenya. She rotated through neonatal and inpatient pediatrics, meeting with children with abdominal cancer, sickle cell anemia, meningitis, and malaria. She found the ability of the doctors, students, and nurses to treat the patients with such limited resources to be miraculous. Kayla had the opportunity to do observe in the Emergency Department,  which she describes as the learning experience of a life time. Kayla conducted community outreach at the Baby Life Rescue Center and at BeHoCa, an orphanage for young boys. Kayla recommends a trip to a developing country for every pre-med student, noting that "it changed my life."

Kayla is the President of the Pre-medical Sciences Club and Vice-President of Students Helping Honduras. She is a recipient of the Biology and Allied Health Scholarship.

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