CHAD MICHAEL YEAGER

ROBINSON SCHOLAR FROM UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

by Mani M Mani MD

The Robinson Scholarship was established at the University Of Kansas School of Medicine in 2005. Dr. David W Robinson MD was Professor of Plastic Surgery at the University. He was my mentor and teacher. Dr. Robinson visited Vellore in 1961 and 1972. The scholarship in his name was established to enable students from the three schools – Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health - to spend 4-8 weeks in CMC Vellore. The hope is to introduce these students to the holistic approach to medicine that is practiced in Vellore.

Chad Michael Yeager was to the first students from University of Kansas to go to Vellore. He is a nursing student. Chad spent 8 weeks in Vellore. He grew up in the town of McPherson, Kansas. Chad completed his BS Nursing in 2006. He went to Ecuador with Medical Missions International and that sparked his interest in International Health.

Arriving in Vellore, he writes, “I can’t say that I was not intimidated by the crowded streets and the constant sound of horns honking, because I was. We finally arrived at the quiet campus of the Medical College where I was to stay. The campus is beautiful with its tropical greenery and wild monkeys running around. It was like no place that I had been”.

Chad Yeager and Community Health Nurses.“The nurses are all very dignified, all wearing the traditional white (hospital) and blue (community health) sari and nursing cap. I traveled with the community health nurses into the homes of rural Indian people. Sitting on the floor of a one roomed thatched house and listening to the nurses teaching the mother of a recently born child the importance of immunization and sanitation in their Tamil dialect was an experience not to be soon forgotten. I had many interesting experiences during my community health stint including being invited to a wedding by a total stranger, receiving a Quaran from a priest at an Islamic center and buying a hand made basket from a women’s self help group. I also experienced first hand how CMC’s concern was not only for the physical health of the people but also for their mind and soul; something that I feel that the health care system in the United States tend to overlook.”

“Another aspect of the trip that opened my eyes to the world was meeting all the foreign visitors who were at CMC observing just as I was. I met people from Holland, Germany, Ethiopia, Venezuela, England, Singapore, Norway, Australia, Israel and Canada. I know that this broadening of perspective will prove to be a life long asset”

Chad’s own words speak to the kind of experience he had. The Robinson Scholarship affords students an invaluable experience. The University Of Kansas School Of Medicine, School of Nursing and the School of Allied health plan to make this an annual program and sponsor 9 – 10 students each year to go to CMC Vellore.