MU Medical School Welcomes Visiting Students From South Africa, Zambia

Each summer, the University of Missouri School of Medicine offers internship opportunities for visiting international and domestic students interested in health careers. Through partnerships with the University of the Western Cape in South Africa and Copperbelt University School of Medicine in Zambia, three international students will spend their summer interning under the guidance of MU medical school faculty. Fourteen international students have participated in the program since its launch in 2012.

“I plan to use this experience to get a clearer picture of what I want to specialize in after I graduate,” said Nancy Kasongo, a fourth-year medical student at Copperbelt University School of Medicine in Ndola. “I will shadow doctors in various departments, especially those that we don’t have in Zambia like cardiothoracic surgery and neurosurgery. I’ll also have access to MU’s simulation center where I can practice procedures that I’ll be doing after I complete my education.”

Tracey Calvert-Joshua, a graduate student the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, is pursuing a PhD in bioinformatics. She said that she is most excited about the connections she will make while at MU, and hopes that her internship will give her the boost needed to be eligible for other opportunities in the future.

The 2017 participants in the School of Medicine’s international internships include:

• Tracey Calvert-Joshua, a graduate student at the University of the Western Cape
• Bianca Gordon, a graduate student at the University of the Western Cape
• Nancy Kasongo, a fourth-year medical student at Copperbelt University School of Medicine

In addition to MU’s international guests, the medical school also offers internship opportunities for undergraduate students in the United States. The Summer Research Internship in Medical Sciences began in 2011 with the goal of recruiting more underrepresented students to the MU School of Medicine.

“To date, we have had 23 students participate in this internship, including two students who will be first-year medical students at MU this fall,” said Jerry Parker, PhD, senior associate dean for research at the MU School of Medicine. “Throughout the summer, the students will work on their own research projects under the guidance of an MU School of Medicine faculty mentor and present their results at a poster forum at the end of the summer Thursday, July 27.”

The 2017 participants in the Summer Research Internship in Medical Sciences include:

• Sherrie Amadi, a senior at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi
• Kenneth Calero, a senior at the California State University – Domingo Hills in Carson, California
• David Drysdale, a senior at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa
• Connor Jenisch, a senior at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri

The medical school’s summer undergraduate interns receive one hour of academic/research credit and a stipend paid from the school’s diversity office.