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PORTLAND, Maine

UNE students and faculty bring health care to Ghana for eighth year

Last week, 40 students and faculty from UNE’s Westbrook College of Health Professions flew to Ghana to embark on a two-week Cross Cultural Health Immersion initiative.

This annual effort involves collaboration between UNE, the Ghana Health Service and local Ghana health practitioners to provide primary care, health education and clinical services to community members in the city of Sekondi and two rural nearby villages.

Jennifer Morton, DNP, M.S., M.P.H., RN, associate professor and director of nursing at UNE, has led this service-learning trip for the past eight years. Its purpose is to give American and Ghanaian physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, physician assistants, optometrists, social workers and public health professionals the opportunity to learn from, with and about each other and their patients.

“Lots of things have changed since the last time I worked in Africa,” commented Dora Anne Mills, M.D., M.P.H. FAAP, vice president for clinical affairs. “Jen Morton has been leading this trip for many years, transforming our students and faculty, and helping us all to be better citizens of the world.”

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.