TEST News by Category Alumni

Training Tribal Leaders in the Amazon: A Journey by Dr. Kathy Halverson

Dr. Kathy Halverson developed a culturally appropriate interactive approach to disease prevention and community health development in the Amazonian lowlands. The Duluth Campus alumna is a Medical School Alumni Board member, among other volunteer opportunities, and fondly recalls her educational journey. Twelve years ago, in the Amazon lowlands of Peru, Dr. Kathy Halverson ('86) joined nationals and tribal leaders seeking to improve their communities' well-being. "I came first with my black bag," she said. "But it was apparent that everyone would soon be sick again from preventable disease...

A Residency Program Where International Applicants Focus on Rural Care

Dr. Denny Peterson (’89) practiced Family Medicine in Willmar (1992-2013) and is now in St. Cloud, Minnesota, as faculty for UMN/Centracare St Cloud (2013-present). While doing so, he has supported and mentored numerous physicians through medical school and the residency program. Many past and current residents have ethnic connections to Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Central America, Russia, and the Philippines. “The diversity of Minnesota has changed quite a bit during the last 30 years,” he said. “When I went to medical school, our class and most Minnesota communities were pretty homogenous....