SMI Student Blog
Browse the SMI Student Blog Posts
The blog entries below were submitted by past participants of the SMI program during their time in Philadelphia. There are also some yearly recaps from our Summer Program Director.
Back Providing Community Health Screens: Integrating Faith and Medical Care in 2022
A Report of the Philadelphia Summer Medical Institute, June 18-July 9, 2022 By Holly Favino, Program Director On a sunny day in July a pair of Christian health care students and their interpreter knocked on doors of tightly packed row houses in Kensington,...
Better than I Expected
by Ashley A.Hey everyone! My name is Ashley and I am in nursing school in Birmingham! Coming into SMI, I had no idea what to expect. Being from out of town, I assumed everyone would already know each other and I would be the outsider. I assumed Kensington would be a...
Kensington
by Jaz J.Kensington…. You’ve taught me a lot. You’ve shown me a lot. The first day I saw you, I was afraid of you. You looked like something that was shot right out of a movie scene. I had never seen anything like you. But over the last 3 weeks, I’ve come to know you...
How does one pray… in Spanish?
by Samantha E.“For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” 1 Corinthians 1:17During college, I was introduced to the world of global missions, in that I would...
My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty
by Lisa S.I’m reminded of this children’s Christian song as I reminisce of my SMI experience. Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty that there’s nothing our God cannot do. SMI has been such an eye-opening and awesome three weeks where I truly saw God work within...
An Avenue for the Gospel
by Lindsey F.I have wanted to be a doctor for a long time. The past three weeks in North Philly have only fueled my desire. One of the most important reasons that have influenced my desire to be a physician is the opportunity for patient relationships and the chance...
Transformational: 30 Years of SMI
A Report of the Philadelphia Summer Medical Institute, June 26-July 17, 2021 By Holly Favino, Summer Program Director Who would imagine that a vaccination effort to combat a 1991 North Philadelphia measles outbreak would adapt and continue today as the...
“God was already at work in this place before you got here.”
by Trevor S. We come into this place with good intentions, energy, excitement, and passion for positive change and spiritual development. We enter with various levels of experience, understanding, and history. We represent a mix of diverse faith...
Simple But Powerful Lessons
By Tolulope I The Summer Medical Institute (SMI Philly 2020) is over and here I am reminiscing on the experiences I gained throughout the course of the program. The image of paintings on the wall of the conference room where I worked still lingers in my memory....
Supporting Health Care During the Pandemic
By Katie V The COVID-19 pandemic caused the Philadelphia Summer Medical Institute (SMI) to be different this year. Instead of going door-to-door to provide health screenings, we worked with Esperanza Health Center (EHC) to complete some clerical and...
The Gift of Hope
Top row, left to right: Elizabeth Centurión, Larissa Dean, Tiffany Wang, Jessica Bedele; Bottom row, left to right: Abby Weems, Juliana Bonilla, Nadine Kamel, Sosela Rrusho I have no words for describing how grateful I am for being part of this huge...
SHADOWing in the LIGHT
Hi everyone! My name is Kai Inguito, and I’m a rising second year medical student at Jefferson. I would like to share about my time SHADOWing at SMI. One of my career interests in medicine is to become a primary care physician who works and lives in the community....
A Paradoxical Beauty
In the two weeks that I have spent living and serving in North Philly, I have been so deeply blessed and yet deeply challenged as well. Our medical team has already spent many hours in Kensington and the surrounding area knocking on doors and meeting people on...
Beautiful Feet
From left to right: Brian Schonewald, Nadeen Kamel, Jessica Bedele How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God...
Until We Reunite in Heaven
The stories, testimonies, struggles, challenges, and lessons that were birthed from this week are a pure testament of how good the Lord is, especially to those who are overlooked. One of the characteristics of God that has been so evident in my life is His ability to...