PURPOSE

Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship Student Mission Grants are made possible by donations. The grants are for Christian healthcare students. The purpose of the grant is to provide assistance to students who are going on mission both domestically and internationally to serve the healthcare needs of unserved or underserved people of the world with the intent to share the love of Christ.

OBJECTIVES

- Expose grant recipients’ to the problems affecting the world: nutrition, health, and quality of life.
- Encourage their involvement with those that have hope of modifying those problems.
- Provide exposure to mentors who may influence their vocational choices.

TYPES OF PROJECTS

- International health care, curative and preventive
- Assisting hospitals in immunization campaigns.
- Conducting public health seminars.
- Providing student aid to hospital/medical personnel.
- Assisting with medical/dental clinics. (Many of these are conducted in rural areas, but in recent years have also been centered in the cities).
- Establishing nutritional rehabilitation centers (teaching how to prepare nutritional meals utilizing local food sources).
- Providing model agriculture projects such as Grow Beds, Faith Gardens
- SALT (Sloping Agriculture Land Techniques)
- Providing parent/family education workshops.
- Working with street children.
- Conducting arts and crafts workshops (focusing on design, quality control and marketing).

SUPERVISION

Each student should be supervised by an approved supervisor/mentor who will be chosen by the local mission/institution leadership. In most cases these persons would be medical missions personnel, mission administrators, field missionaries, and/or designated national leaders who are certified either by the local mission or the Baptist Medical/Dental Fellowship.

TIMETABLE

These practicums would require two-six weeks for completion. Some, due to local circumstances and relationships would require two-four months. Calendaring would be coordinated by the Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship. These projects would be worked with the respective mission board, the local mission and/or institution, and national leadership.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Each student/grantee will submit a one-page description of the project to the Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship that addresses the following (attach to application).

• Place  • Timetable • Approximate cost • Nature of project • Supervision
• Why this project is important to you?
• How this experience can/will expand your world awareness?
• How the project will enhance your personal and professional life?

SPIRITUAL EVALUATION

The Grant Committee is interested in what you anticipate the spiritual impact of the trip to be both on you and also on those you will be serving. We realize that you won't fully know the spiritual impact on the community, but you should anticipate the spiritual impact of your service. What are you doing to prepare yourself spiritually for this project? These things are very important to us.

EVALUATION

Each student/grantee upon completion of the practicum will provide the Baptist Medical/Dental Fellowship a written report that will include answers to such questions as:
What problems did you encounter? How would you correct them?
What are needs/issues that could be addressed?
What did you learn?
How do you see this experience affecting/changing your personal life?
What have you learned that can be transferred back to the U.S.?
What is the significance and probable impact of the project?
Were there spiritual lessons learned and how do you anticipate applying them in the future?

GRANT AWARD

The BMDF Grant Committee will review your GrantApplication, make a determination regarding your application and notify you of their decision within thirty days. Grants will be given at the rate of 25% of trip costs or a maximum of $1,000.00.