It was last fall. Ray-Anna Rodney, now a senior biological sciences major in the College of Arts and Sciences, had just toured the anatomy lab in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She was feeling inspired and excited about her dream of becoming a physician.

“As I turned the corner to enter the brain museum, I saw the bold black, green and gold of the Jamaican flag,” says Rodney. “Jamaica is the only country whose national flag does not contain red, white, or blue. I remember thinking, ‘What is Jamaica doing here?’ Then I read the words: Global Health Trip to Jamaica. Circled on the map was St. Thomas, the parish where I grew up and spent the first 17 years of my life. The moment felt almost surreal.”

Rodney says at first she was intimidated since it looked like the trip was mostly targeted to medical students. Then, a few weeks later, Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica, the worst storm to hit the island.

“I watched the devastation unfold through the news, social media and family group chats,” Rodney says. “That changed my entire perspective. The trip was no longer about what the experience could do for me professionally or academically. It became a call to action. At that point, the fear was gone,” Rodney recalls. “Going on the trip felt like a responsibility and a privilege.”

The UB trip to Hagley Gap, St. Thomas parish, took place from June 5-13. David Holmes, clinical associate professor of family medicine and director of global health education in the Jacobs School, has organized about a dozen international medical missions since 2010.

This trip to Jamaica was a first, prompted by a Buffalo connection. Cheryl Horton, a medical assistant and Buffalo native who now lives in Jamaica, had contacted her friend from childhood, Rev. Garney Davis, director of pastoral and spiritual care at Erie County Medical Center, telling him there was a need for medical care in Hagley Gap, a  remote community in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains region. Davis contacted Holmes and the trip began taking shape.

In addition to Rodney and Holmes, the team consisted of three second-year MD students, Ryu Dorn, Romi Sheng and Alicia Loui; and Gina LaFontain, Suzanne McDonell and Don Brautigam, husband of the late Elaine Brautigam, who completed many medical missions together and to whom the Jamaica trip was dedicated.

Thanks to contributions from the UB Foundation/John E. Brewer Global Medicine Fund and individual donors, the team was able to bring ample medications and supplies for the trip.

Horton posted flyers to let the community know the team was coming, arranging families to host team members and organizing transportation to take the team up into the mountains where Hagley Gap is located. Only 20 miles from Jamaica’s capital of Kingston, the trip took hours as the van made its slow way up the mountain on steep narrow, unpaved roads with hairpin turns and stunning — if terrifying — views of the valleys below.

Rodney was thrilled to be back in Hagley Gap with friends and family members.

“At the same time, I felt angry and frustrated when I saw the conditions,” she says. “The building did not have running water inside, and residents explained that doctors and nurses rarely visited the clinic. It seemed that Hagley Gap was treated as though it were distant not only geographically, but also from the minds and priorities of those responsible for providing care.”

Holmes agrees that the remoteness of the village and the poor road conditions hinder the economy and the delivery of necessary services, including health care. “This is a common problem in all countries, but especially low and middle-income countries,” he says. “If the road to Hagley Gap was paved and more easily accessible, that would improve a lot of things.”

Once settled with their host families, the team began seeing patients. They treated reflux, hypertension, urinary tract infections, eczema, fungal infections, worms and arthritis. They saw a 9-year-old boy with a congenital heart defect. The team is working to find a country where they could send him to receive pro-bono treatment for his heart, which is unavailable in Jamaica.

Alicia Loui said of the experience, “Working with limited technology has reinforced the importance of physical exams, history-taking and clinical judgment. Most importantly, I have witnessed how the patients value compassion above all else.”

While there, Rodney leveraged her connections, notifying local media and connecting with a member of Parliament who requested that Holmes assess what is needed in Hagley Gap to improve conditions. Holmes responded, noting that running water in the clinic building is priority number one.

The trip was strengthened by its partnership between the Jacobs School and UB Education Abroad, which develops and supports education abroad programs for UB students and assists with international health insurance and emergency response if needed.

Holmes says that the experience of doing a medical mission stays with people long after they return home. “Getting out of our comfort zone and living and working in a different culture, especially one with a lot of poverty, helps us realize how resilient people are and how blessed we are in the U.S.,” he says. “My hope is that once students and residents see the needs, they will be inspired to do what they can, throughout their careers, to help those in need by supporting and working in medically underserved communities locally and globally.”

Over the past decades, more than 350 students and about 30 residents, most of them in the Department of Family Medicine Global Health Scholars Track, have served on UB global health trips.

For Rodney, the trip was a source of motivation and inspiration.

“This trip strengthened my determination to become a physician and motivated me to work even harder in my studies,” she says. “The people living in Hagley Gap are no different from me; we have simply had access to different opportunities. Being a student at UB is both a privilege and an enormous opportunity, and I do not want to waste it.”