My name is Priscilla Molina and I am a 4th year undergraduate student studying Psychobiology (Major), Latin American Studies, and Public Health (Minors) at UCLA! I have a passion for adventuring and learning from God’s beautiful and diverse creation. I believe that there are far too many injustices when it comes to attaining optimal, holistic health for many communities living in countries where there is high governmental corruption, poverty and history of societal unrest. God has placed a heart of great empathy, compassion, and drive in me, not only to help those living in communities like these but also to continue deepening my understanding of God’s love for all people.

I traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia this past September 2019 with the SEI team. Our group included surgeons and anesthesiologists that poured out God’s intelligence and power. Not only were they able to physically help God’s people, they were able to mentor other residents and myself and motivate us to see medicine through God’s lens.

As an undergraduate, I often felt very undeserving of the opportunity to step into the OR room and get mentored by a plastic surgeon who explained every step of her procedures with great patience and diligence. Her trust in my ability to learn how to prepare the surgical tools, set up the sterile area, and even remember the names of multiple sutures allowed me to gain confidence in the often times demoralizing pre-med track. The anesthesiologists willingness to answer all my questions and even quiz me on previous day information excited me to come into the OR room each morning.

Some of the most impactful moments included praying for the patients in the midst of their anxiousness of entering the surgical procedure. Getting to know the entire team of scrub nurses, family medicine residents and long term missionary doctors really affirmed my heart for medicine because I was exposed to a variety of reasons for going into medicine. Residents shared about the suffering their people back in their villages experienced and recognized that they have been blessed to be able to receive scholarships and opportunities to complete medical school, work at Hebron Medical Center and serve those who often have no money to receive very serious medical aid. I was able to learn the importance for patients to see medical professionals who could speak their language and understand their different preferences, something many often overlook when going into other countries to do medicine. I was amazed at the ability of our team surgeons to teach and motivate the family medicine residents to understand new procedures and widen their perspective on how to approach common medical concerns.

Simply recalling the residents smiling faces and willingness to answer my questions about their culture and practices as well as answering their questions of what the U.S was like and why I had chosen the path of medicine brings much warmth to my heart.

I hope to go back to Cambodia and countries like it in the future to share wisdom as a future physician and bask in the beauty of God’s wondrous creation.  More hearts can be healed, including our own, when we are able to go out of our comfort zone and reach out to God’s people that are found in all parts of life.