The convergence of great loves: new husband and wife, medicine and saving lives, culture and travel. Kyle Crooker has experienced all three, and at the same time! A final year medical student at Kansas University Medical Center, Kyle traveled to Lima, Peru, to complete the final service-learning clinical requirement to qualify for the INMED Professional Diploma in International Medicine & Public Health.
Hospital Nacional Cayetano Heredia is the leading teaching hospital in Peru, associated with Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. It houses most every department of a large North American hospital, with some notable exceptions reminiscent of the 1950s: patients housed six per room and medical records on paper charts. Here Kyle Crooker was supervised in his care for internal medicine and infectious disease patients. Says Kyle, “The teaching physicians were very friendly, welcoming, helpful, and gracefully tolerant of my Spanish. I treated patients with toxoplasma, HIV, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, and even Pott’s Disease (TB of the spine). This was excellent final prep for my internal medicine residency that begins on July 1.”
Kyle Crooker’s fiancé from medical school floated the idea of holding their wedding event in Peru. Both family’s made the trip to South America for the ceremony, which Kyle lightly describes as his most profound cultural experience. And thus the union of his greatest loves!
