AOF grant supports TCOM students in a humanitarian medical outreach trip to the Philippines
A humanitarian medical trip of a lifetime to the Philippines for students at UNT Health
at Fort Worth’s Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine was made possible by a grant
from the American Osteopathic Foundation. In January, TCOM students Ananya Desai,
Brittany Uebbing, and Maggie Yip traveled to the province of Bohol, accompanied by
Dr. Thomas Shima, to provide vital medical care to residents and nearby islands.
The students were awarded the AOF’s International Medical Outreach Travel Grant, which
offers travel stipends to osteopathic medical students and residents who deliver medical
services internationally in underserved, underdeveloped, or disaster-stricken areas.
This grant, available for international outreach trips through 2027, is funded by
the Rossnick Family Fund, established in honor of Joni B. Rossnick, DO.
The student, along with Shima, traveled to the province of Bohol and provided care
to residents in the municipalities of Ubay and Clarin. The group was there from January
1-31.
“This trip was incredible in every way,” said Yip. “We were there for the entire month
of January, and we hosted a lot of free clinics along with screenings for surgeries
that would be happening later this year.”
Shima is affiliated with a nonprofit that regularly returns to the Philippines to
perform free surgeries for patients cleared during these screenings. One of the most
prevalent screenings that Yip said they encountered was for cataracts. A particularly
impactful one wasn’t someone advanced in age suffering from cataracts, but a 16-year-old.
“She was a very bright student and at the top of her class, but she had cataracts,”
Yip said. “For her entire life, she’s had this gray, blurry vision, and now if she
can get the surgery, that will be a massive change in her life, especially given her
age. Just to know that we are able to make a significant difference by offering them
this Yip, who matched in Psychiatry at the Baylor College of Medicine, was impressed when
working with the primary care physicians and saw the emphasis on genograms and how
that built trust with patients. Genograms are visual, multigenerational family trees,
typically 3+ generations, that map structure, medical history, and complex emotional
relationships.
“I really enjoyed seeing how they did that and presented it to the family,” said Yip.
“The Filipino culture is very family-oriented, where the U.S. is more individualistic.
There was so much good in mapping out the relationships, especially in psychiatry
and child psychiatry, and having that ability to map out a family genogram is a great
way to practice medicine more holistically.”
The AOF anticipates awarding approximately 100 travel grants for osteopathic medical students for trips occurring through March 31, 2027.