When thinking about visiting the Dominican Republic, one might imagine swimming in turquoise water and lounging on white sandy beaches in resort towns like Punta Cana or Las Terrenas. But Dr. Robert Gray ’22 DMSc and Dr. Travis Kaufman ’20 DMSc saw such a trip as an opportunity to put education into practice through service to others.
Gray, an adjunct professor for Lynchburg’s Doctor of Medical Science program, is also an assistant professor for the PA program at Nova Southeastern University – Jacksonville.
When the administration at Nova Southeastern approached him about resuming their tradition of taking preclinical PA students on a mission trip between their didactic and clinical years, he said “Sign me up!” He was unable to attend the trip with his own PA cohort at Nova Southeastern and jumped at the chance to put his new knowledge from Lynchburg’s DMSc program into practice.
The trip, which involved only Nova Southeastern students, was planned in conjunction with DR Missions, a small Christian nonprofit based in the Dominican Republic.
DR Missions oversees several ministries, including a community health outreach ministry which, according to their website, aims to: “1. Make medical care available to those who need it. 2. Educate on quality health care and evidenced-based practice. 3. Focus on preventative care wherever possible.”
Gray emphasized the importance of working with groups like DR Missions to ensure care is available to those who need it.
“One of the things we were excited about … is these folks have yearslong relationships with the people in these communities and they’re able to have medical groups come in and regularly see the patients and treat them in the community,” he said.
In preparing for the trip, Gray guided students through the process of researching possible ailments they might encounter and on how to navigate CDC and State Department resources and plan and pack for a medical aid trip.
Proper preparedness — knowing what immunizations they would need, what mosquito-borne diseases to worry about, and even whether or not they could bring a satellite phone into the country — would be just as important as the medical care they would provide.
The students fundraised to cover the costs, but due to various personal reasons, some were unable to go on the trip. With space available, Gray extended an invitation to Kaufman and several alumni of Lynchburg’s DMSc Emergency Management and Global Health program.
Kaufman functioned as a second advisor to the students, lending his expertise as a military PA and emergency medicine instructor. “It was kind of serendipity that I was able to get Travis on the trip, because if everybody had gone as planned I wouldn’t have had an opening,” Gray said.
Kaufman and Gray emphasized that taking students to austere areas, where resources and access to quality care is limited, is important in driving home the world’s need for well-rounded and critical-thinking practitioners.
While many students may come into the PA program with a narrow definition of what it means to practice wilderness medicine, Gray explained, “Wilderness isn’t always in the woods. Wilderness is a lack of resources.”
The group ran pop-up clinics and worked shifts at Juan Pablo Pina Regional Hospital in San Cristobal. Gray and Kaufman advised and assisted the PA students as they treated patients for a wide variety of conditions, such as pregnancy, gunshot wounds, and infections.
“They got to participate in emergency medicine in both adult and pediatric settings,” Gray said. “They were able to see sick and injured patients and they were able to do some procedures under supervision.”
Gray especially enjoyed seeing the clinical procedures and surgical skills he taught being put into action. “They were nervous but I knew they were going to do great because we trained them,” he said. “It was fantastic for them to build their confidence.”
It was significant, Kaufman noted, that the students’ first experience treating patients occurred with a significant language barrier. “They’re getting that first exposure to patients, but [the patients] don’t speak our language,” he said.
“So, they’re also learning how to use an interpreter and … working on their medical Spanish. We even had a time where we were translating three languages: English to Spanish to Haitian Creole.”
Later, in a LinkedIn post, Kaufman wrote he plans to improve his Spanish and OB-GYN ultrasound skills as a result of this experience.
Students also gained a firsthand experience of how much people in the United States take for granted when it comes to accessing medical care or even clean water. Many of the ailments they treated had been worsened by a lack of clean water.
“You can read about it in a book. You can study about it,” Gray said. “But nothing hits you in the face quite like seeing it.”
During the trip, Gray found himself constantly reflecting on what he learned during his DMSc training. He shared that knowledge and the program’s value with his students, who often pondered what to do when Plan A won’t work.
“I think that gets to the heart of what we do in the DMSc,” Gray said. “What do you do when you’re off book in that environment? You find the new right answers.”
The trip also served as a test experience for Kaufman and Gray to bring back to Lynchburg’s DMSc EMGH program.
Currently, the program culminates in a weeklong intensive hosted at the University’s Claytor Nature Center in Bedford County, Virginia. The original idea was to host the intensive in an international setting, like the Dominican Republic, but this plan was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kaufman, the lead for the EMGH concentration, is working to bring the travel and service component back into the DMSc program. His goal is to eventually incorporate up to four opportunities for students to travel and put what they’re learning to work.
He hopes to take at least 10 Lynchburg EMGH students to the Dominican Republic in the Spring of 2025.
Both Gray and Kaufman are passionate about developing skilled and compassionate physician associates who will go out in the world and make a difference.
“Though we cannot control where we are born or the circumstances we live in, we can choose to be kind,” Gray said. “It’s essential to remember that every patient is a human being in need, deserving of our compassion and care.”
Kaufman added, “This mission has not only allowed us to serve but also to learn and grow — both as medical professionals and as human beings.”
