Photo Caption: Kelly Chung presents to the leadership course that Loma linda Univesity Health held in Hangzhou, China.
Loma Linda University Health, like many universities, offers recent graduates the opportunity to work in a Management Residency Program. This two-year program is comprised of individuals that have completed their undergraduate or graduate programs and are looking for work experience in their area of interest.
The position allows residents to work at Loma Linda University Health and learn how the management departments are run as they cycle through rotations within different departments. At the end of two-years the goal is to hire the residents into full time positions within the Loma Linda University Health family of employees.
One of the things that makes Loma Linda University Health’s program unique is that it provides the opportunity to work internationally during rotations.
This is a relatively new addition to the program, beginning in 2011 with Shaunielle Abreu, MA, residency program manager, when she was in the residency program.
As a resident, Abreu was looking for a way that she could give back to the university, a way that she could add to the rotation for others. With this thought in mind, she and fellow resident, Steve Brooks, created a proposal for an international rotation and presented to Richard Hart, MD, DrPH, president of Loma Linda University Health.
“He loved it,” Abreu said. That year Abreu was able to go and work for several months in Malawi at Malamulo Adventist Hospital and from that point on, the international rotation has continued to grow and gain interest with those in the program. In 2014 the highest number of residents chose to participate in this opportunity with four individuals traveling abroad for work rotations.
Juliana McGraw spent 10 days in the Philippines with a film team, David Moore, one month in Haiti doing construction at Haiti Adventist Hospital, Graydon Todd, one week in Haiti working with the rehabilitation technician program and Kelly Chung spent five days in China helping to present at a leadership course at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital. Each experience was diverse in length and objectives but each came back feeling enriched by the involvement of viewing Loma Linda University Health from an outside perspective.
“Normally when I think of Loma Linda outreach, I think of African Hospitals,” Chung said. “But in China I realized that it was actually a very developed country and over 20-years we have created this partnership that benefits both sides and that is just so cool.”
McGraw’s rotation allowed her to travel with Advancement Films to assist in filming an episode of Life on the Line that will air on PBS later this year. While on site she was able to see the International Behavioral Trauma Team train locals on how to cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is a very prominent problem in the area due to the number of Typhoons they encounter.
“What the most amazing thing to me was being able to the see the impact that Loma Linda has world wide,” McGraw said. “I really value being able to see the difference that we are making to a villager in the Philippines. I just kept thinking, ‘How far removed is that person from Loma Linda?’ They are living in a bamboo huts across the world and will never come to Southern California, but they are still being touched and benefited by the work at Loma Linda University Health.”
While in Haiti, both Moore and Todd found that even though their experiences varied, they both gained insight into how Loma Linda University Health serves throughout the world.
Moore sits on the administrative board for Adventist Health International that works closely with Haiti Adventist Hospital. Through his knowledge of the site he was able to gain a better understanding of how mission hospitals benefit from their relationships to Loma Linda University Health.
“Haiti would not be what it is today without Loma Linda,” Moore said. “Just in terms of resources, we have students and medical professions that can go and help in the mission fields and it is amazing to see first hand that Loma Linda is making a global impact.”
These relationships do not just benefit those receiving global outreach though. The impact on the residents is undeniable.
“You can just tell from being given the option to travel abroad that Loma Linda wants us to experience the world. To experience poverty,” Todd said. “They want us to experience all of these things because we are so privileged in America, so to be able to help out those in need and to have Loma Linda University Health, foster the desire to serve overseas is unlike any other opportunity that I’ve ever been presented with before.”
Abreu expressed that the idea for international work began when it was realized that many administrators at Loma Linda University Health are also working with our international mission sites. “If this residency program is a secession for future administrators, that global component of international service is essential, “Abreu said. “We want service to be imbedded in the residents now as they start their careers.”
To learn more about the Management Residency Program and the opportunities it offers please contact the Talent Management Services office or visit, http://www.llu.edu/central/hrm/internship-and-residency.page?