Global Health Scholars Program

Amy Williams, MD, MSPH, is a practicing family physician and an Associate Professor and clinical researcher in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Dr. Williams has served as the faculty advisor of Students Interested in Global Health for Tomorrow (SIGHT) for 3 years and is passionate about global health educational and service experiences, having traveled to Jamaica, Panama, Uganda, Nicaragua, and Vietnam. In addition, Dr. William's research focuses on child obesity, especially in low-income and racial and ethnic minority families. She is investigating the influence of stress from racial discrimination and stereotype on child obesity, clinic and community-based approaches to preventing and treating childhood obesity, as well as policy initiatives to improve community health.

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Dr Folzenlogen MD MPH FACP: Retired emeritus professor of child health and internal medicine, MU health care rheumatology provider for 19 yrs. I enjoyed many activities including Rheumatology Division head for 8 yrs, 7 yrs as pediatric rheum head, medicine specialty clinic director, internal residency associate director, rheum fellowship director, internal medicine Vice chairman, as well as LCGME, diversity and inclusion, clinical affairs, technology, and admissions committees. I received millennium scholar and Socrates designations. I teach basic science, didactics, JC, environment-rheumatology links, and am a sleep faculty member/lecturer. I continue to learn from and be inspired by, knowledgeable students, residents and fellows. As an ANA lab medical tri-director we strive to upgrade and maintain responsive lab services. In 2019, I received my MPH in health policy at Kent State University, and in 2018 travelled to the World Health Assembly Geneva, Switzerland as a student participant.  Medical aspects of war, climate change, emerging infections, were highlighted discussions. Currently, I am a Kent State University CPH advisory board member, mentorship volunteer,” PH leaders” scholarship founder, and served as moderator for “health and built environments”. As a central Missouri “foster grandparent program” (Ameri core) board member, I have led sessions on “sense of purpose”, “social engagement”, “pandemic coping”.  With habitat for humanity, I travelled to post hurricane gulf coast, a Hawaiian community, and New Zealand, to build affordable, safe housing, a determinant of health. As a climate ambassador, planetary health alliance member, lifelong hiker, my current focus leans to climate and environmental impacts on health and care access. I am honored to work with global health scholars.

Before going to medical school Dr. Parker was a physical therapist in California where she had many Spanish-speaking patients in rehab. Because she spoke Spanish, life stories of many of the rehab patients were shared-sparking her interest in global health. From there she went to Chicago medical school at Northwester, again, she encountered many cultures and life stories of people who had come to Chicago from other parts of the world. 

From Chicago her family moved to Columbia, MO where she connected with people doing medical trips, Jamaica - with the late Dr. Gordon Christenson, infectious disease specialist and Guatemala with the Methodist mission group working with ODIM (Organization for the Development of the Indigenous Maya).

Then five years at Student Health, ten years as a hospitalist, now outpatient internal medicine at Fairview clinic. She is continuing playing the organ for church, plus playing keyboard for musical theatres. During the pandemic, other musicians and herself played a Saturday night live program to keep connected as well.

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Dr. Pierce has been an Assistant Professor for Family and Community Medicine for over 15 years. She teachers medical students and resident physicians at the UP-Callaway practice in Fulton, Missouri. She has passion for improving and supporting access to health care in the face of socioeconomic and cultural differences. Close to home, she is providing primary care to rural community with varied access to resources. Abroad, she has close family ties to a remarkable hospital in the highlands of Guatemala. Hospitalito Atitlan delivers healthcare in region of 45,000 indigenous Mayans. It is built and supported by donations, community, and student/medical volunteers. As an occasional consultant and avid support, she is proud that the Hospitalito has successfully provided access to modern healthcare, while continually showing respect for and embracing cultural traditions. An important balance. 

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Kathleen Quinn, PhD, joined the University of Missouri School of Medicine’s Office of Rural Health in 2000 and was named Associate Dean for Rural Health in 2013. In addition to advising the Global Health Scholars Program (GHSP), she leads the Rural Scholars Program (RSP), which is designed to provide students with ongoing exposure to rural medicine and guide them toward careers in the field. Throughout the years, she has established statewide partnerships with organizations, communities and hospital systems to ensure the RSP’s success. Dr. Quinn has been the principal investigator on continuous grants from the Health Resources Services Administration and the Department of Health and Senior Services. She serves on health advisory boards for the United Way and the Missouri Hospital Association. She is a committee member for COMPASS (Contemplating Medicine, Patients, Self and Society) and the Medical Student Performance Evaluation committee, and she serves on the Committee for Respect and Civility in the Learning Environment.

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Chris Stewart is the CEO of Katy Trail Community Health, a federally qualified community health center in west central Missouri. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill with a master's in women's history. Chris started her career working as a community organizer in eastern North Carolina. While there, she worked for an African American Community Organization, the Concerned Citizens of Tillery. CCT created a community store, a community clinic and they worked to keep corporate hog operations out of Halifax County North Carolina. Chris has worked in the Missouri Area Health Education program before working with community health centers. She is the founding director of the Oral Health Network of Missouri and has been with KTCH since 2005.

Following family medicine residency, Dr. Wells practiced emergency medicine in a variety of settings, from rural hospitals to level 1 trauma centers, serving as medical director of ground and air EMS services. After 16 years in emergency medicine he returned to family medicine in an academic setting and helped developed simulation curricula in critical patient assessment and in procedure skills using the concepts of mastery learning and deliberate practice. They have also incorporated deliberate practice into non procedural areas such as behavioral sciences and global health education. He is currently the medical director of the Shelden Clinical Simulation Center in the School of Medicine. 

In 2006 Dr. Wells went to Honduras for a short term medical service trip and was immediately captivated by serving in low resource settings. He has been back to Honduras and to Guatemala on several trips, most recently with the CMDA group. He loves the opportunity to help those less fortunate than we in the US, and to help our learners experience providing medical care in environments vastly different from our own. He also enjoys teaching local providers techniques that will allow them to deliver a higher level of care to their own patients. 

In helping to develop a global health curriculum using simulation Dr. Wells has been able to help our students and residents simulate the experience of serving in low resource settings as they learn how different cultures approach healthcare. He has given several presentations on this topic nationally and internationally, and hope to be able to use that experience to help our Global Health Scholars as they prepare to serve in many different settings. 

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