- D
Hey everyone!
As many of you have heard, my brother Taylor has planned a medical rotation overseas. Then, it should come to no surprise that I have a global health trip planned as well! Will our pursuits ever truly diverge? Probably not.
I am in my last year of school, and I will be training in Emergency Medicine next fall. I look forward to honing my skills as a physician and finding my role in global medicine: my passion since deciding to enter medical school. In 2014, I spent time in Haiti at a small clinic, experiencing the delivery of medical care on an intimate scale. Now, in March, I have the chance to work in a large teaching hospital in a culture and environment entirely different than my own.
For 4 weeks, starting February 27th, I will work at Bangalore Baptist Hospital (BBH) in Bangalore, India. I will spend two weeks on an internal medicine service, one week in the ICU, and one week in the Emergency Department. As a future ER physician, I know that internal medicine and critical care are closely intertwined in the stabilization and treatment of patients, especially in a global health setting where roles often overlap.
In contrast to the smaller scale overseas clinics I have rotated through in the past, BBH is a large 300-bed hospital with many advanced procedural and imaging resources, and multiple residency programs in all of the major specialties. I will get to see how high-
quality medicine is practiced in an entirely different environment. The hospital will bring challenges of unfamiliar religions, language, cultural barriers, and clinical background of the faculty.
Students from the BBH Rebekah Ann Naylor School of Nursing, named after UTSW-trained surgeon who is coordinating our trip
In global health, adaptation is everything, and I revel in the opportunity to increase my ability to thrive in a foreign environment and
widen the scope of my clinic skills.
Annick has exciting plans as well! For those of you who have not met my wife, she is an attorney and calligrapher, who has a passion for human rights and global health as I do. When Annick began law school, she dreamed of working for International Justice Mission, (IJM), abroad as soon as she graduated. God clearly had other plans for her and sent her to Dallas to work as a prosecutor, (which, obviously, worked in my favor). She has connected with IJM's Bangalore office , and she will be doing some work for them while we are in India together. IJM’s office in Bangalore focuses on a specific form of human trafficking: bonded labor, where owners trick families into becoming laborers through bait and switch loans or outright violence.
IJM Bangalore: More Than 100 Rescued from Slavery in Massive Operation
Though IJM has been successful in freeing many of these enslaved families, local systems and corruption can make justice hard to come by. For example, brick kiln owners who have been found guilty of human trafficking often serve minimal sentences, sometimes less than a week. This severely undermines the overarching goal of IJM and provides no fear of prosecution to kiln owners and slave traders. IJM is trying to find out how to increase the strength of the local government’s hand in these issues, and Annick will be assisting in these research endeavors.
International Justice Mission. Seek Justice.
As both of us will be working on a volunteer basis, we are raising money for our flights, room and board, vaccines, visas, and Annicks travel to her IJM site. FYI, we have some flights in between that aren’t part of the rotation and not part of our fundraising goal. We have organized housing and meals at a compound on the hospital grounds, so our living arrangements will be affordable and safe. Thankfully, UT Southwestern has given us a stipend for the trip, so we only have to raise $2,720 to facilitate both my rotation at BBH, and Annick’s work with IJM.
It is such a blessing to work alongside my wife, serving and learning through two completely different facets of global overseas work. The Lord is a God of healing (Mat 9:35) and a God of justice (Isaiah 30:18). We are so excited to further God’s Kingdom using the different skill sets God has given us, and we hope you will partner with us on this journey.
Thank you,
Alec and Annick Coston
As many of you have heard, my brother Taylor has planned a medical rotation overseas. Then, it should come to no surprise that I have a global health trip planned as well! Will our pursuits ever truly diverge? Probably not.
I am in my last year of school, and I will be training in Emergency Medicine next fall. I look forward to honing my skills as a physician and finding my role in global medicine: my passion since deciding to enter medical school. In 2014, I spent time in Haiti at a small clinic, experiencing the delivery of medical care on an intimate scale. Now, in March, I have the chance to work in a large teaching hospital in a culture and environment entirely different than my own.
For 4 weeks, starting February 27th, I will work at Bangalore Baptist Hospital (BBH) in Bangalore, India. I will spend two weeks on an internal medicine service, one week in the ICU, and one week in the Emergency Department. As a future ER physician, I know that internal medicine and critical care are closely intertwined in the stabilization and treatment of patients, especially in a global health setting where roles often overlap.
In contrast to the smaller scale overseas clinics I have rotated through in the past, BBH is a large 300-bed hospital with many advanced procedural and imaging resources, and multiple residency programs in all of the major specialties. I will get to see how high-
quality medicine is practiced in an entirely different environment. The hospital will bring challenges of unfamiliar religions, language, cultural barriers, and clinical background of the faculty.
Students from the BBH Rebekah Ann Naylor School of Nursing, named after UTSW-trained surgeon who is coordinating our tripIn global health, adaptation is everything, and I revel in the opportunity to increase my ability to thrive in a foreign environment and
widen the scope of my clinic skills.
Annick has exciting plans as well! For those of you who have not met my wife, she is an attorney and calligrapher, who has a passion for human rights and global health as I do. When Annick began law school, she dreamed of working for International Justice Mission, (IJM), abroad as soon as she graduated. God clearly had other plans for her and sent her to Dallas to work as a prosecutor, (which, obviously, worked in my favor). She has connected with IJM's Bangalore office , and she will be doing some work for them while we are in India together. IJM’s office in Bangalore focuses on a specific form of human trafficking: bonded labor, where owners trick families into becoming laborers through bait and switch loans or outright violence.
IJM Bangalore: More Than 100 Rescued from Slavery in Massive Operation
Though IJM has been successful in freeing many of these enslaved families, local systems and corruption can make justice hard to come by. For example, brick kiln owners who have been found guilty of human trafficking often serve minimal sentences, sometimes less than a week. This severely undermines the overarching goal of IJM and provides no fear of prosecution to kiln owners and slave traders. IJM is trying to find out how to increase the strength of the local government’s hand in these issues, and Annick will be assisting in these research endeavors.
International Justice Mission. Seek Justice.
As both of us will be working on a volunteer basis, we are raising money for our flights, room and board, vaccines, visas, and Annicks travel to her IJM site. FYI, we have some flights in between that aren’t part of the rotation and not part of our fundraising goal. We have organized housing and meals at a compound on the hospital grounds, so our living arrangements will be affordable and safe. Thankfully, UT Southwestern has given us a stipend for the trip, so we only have to raise $2,720 to facilitate both my rotation at BBH, and Annick’s work with IJM.
It is such a blessing to work alongside my wife, serving and learning through two completely different facets of global overseas work. The Lord is a God of healing (Mat 9:35) and a God of justice (Isaiah 30:18). We are so excited to further God’s Kingdom using the different skill sets God has given us, and we hope you will partner with us on this journey.
Thank you,
Alec and Annick Coston