A third-culture kid at heart, Sam Powdrill, MPHIL, PA-C, 火狐体育下注健康科学学院医师助理研究副教授, 发现自己在大多数人永远不会涉足的地方行医. From the bush of Africa to the mountains of India— and at home in Lexington, 肯塔基州——他在国外30多年来一直致力于教育和激励下一代医师助理.

“My parents were missionaries and I was raised in India, so I’ve been around developing countries my whole life,” Powdrill said. “我一直想在我的生命中做一些能帮助别人的事情，并以一种实际的方式与人们分享基督的爱. That’s what eventually led me to the health care professions.”

Powdrill承认他在成为一名医师助理的过程中经历了一些曲折。. 他最初是通过护理途径进入医疗领域的，希望成为一名执业护士. Fast forward a few years and Powdrill, with his family in tow, 在印度和洪都拉斯做护士的时候，你是在跨越大陆从事医疗保健工作吗.

“While we were in Honduras I was engaged in a lot of medical care. 我基本上是在沿海一个非常偏远的岛屿社区经营一家家庭诊所/紧急护理,” he said. “岛上实际上没有医生，所以我开始处理各种各样的创伤病例. I learned so much about trauma management during that time.”

在洪都拉斯呆了一年之后，Powdrill决定寻求更多的教育和培训. Since he was 31 years old at the time, 他觉得上医学院是不可能的，因为大多数机构不接受30岁以上的考生.

“I met an ophthalmologist while working abroad, 他把我介绍给了伦敦的一个项目，这个项目是由四位在发展中国家工作过的眼科医生负责的,” Powdrill said. “They told me they could help me gain experience so I could begin this program. So that’s what I did. 我把家搬到了火狐体育下注，开始从事眼科护理工作，这是我最不愿意做的事情.”

After completing the program, Powdrill再次结束了他的生活，搬到了非洲，在那里他作为tenweek医院眼科部门的协调员工作了13年，tenweek医院是Bomet最著名的教会教学医院之一, Kenya. 他和他的妻子在医院眼科部的建立和扩展中发挥了不可或缺的作用. 

At Tenwek, Powdrill的主要重点是发展低成本的眼科护理服务和眼科手术，为他们大部分没有服务的农村社区提供服务. Today, Tenwek Eye Unit is the major eye care facility for about one million people, providing inpatient and outpatient eye care services; eye surgery; training programs for volunteer eye health care workers, residents, and clinical officers in ophthalmology; and mobile eye care outreach.

“在肯尼亚的时候，外科医生和眼科医生对我进行了眼科手术方面的培训，”Powdrill说. “So, I was actually a nurse doing eye surgery. 我与肯尼亚政府就获得继续从事这类工作所需的证书进行了长时间的讨论.  他们说，‘去找你的私人助理，然后回来，这样我们就可以安排你进行眼科手术.”’

Powdrill在北达科他州获得了硕士学位，然后回到肯尼亚在tenweek医院工作，直到2004年搬回美国. 在一次会议上与健康科学学院的另一位教员会面后(Dr. David Fahringer)，他被鼓励申请学院的教学职位.

Powdrill has now taught at the College of Health Sciences for 15 years. His friendly and gracious demeanor, decades of wisdom and experience, 看到学生成功的热情使他成为威斯顿大楼和校园里最受欢迎的人.

“I’m a clinician at heart and I love the hands-on skills that I teach. 我教体检已经很多年了，包括缝合、静脉注射等.,” he said. “作为一名教育工作者，我的每一天都充满了激情. To see my students hone their practical skills, do them well, and be accurate, that’s the best part of my job.”

除了教学之外，Powdrill每年还领导几个海外教育机会. From Ecuador, to Kenya, and beyond, 他致力于帮助学生获得跨文化技能，并主动成为实践者.

When asked about his favorite memories on these trips, Powdrill smiles and responds there’s almost too many to count. But, 其中有几次表现突出，比如他带领学生在桑布鲁进行医疗宣教之旅, Kenya—a desert area that is both rural and poverty-stricken.

“我们在一个小镇上做眼科手术，我的学生们真的卷起袖子，解决了手头的挑战,” he said. “天气很热，尘土飞扬，我们在一个没有窗户的教堂里做了大约50次眼科手术. Our IV bag was hanging from rafters in the ceiling. My students learned how to scrub, use the equipment, and assisted me with vigorous enthusiasm despite the conditions.”

在为学术界无私奉献了15年之后，Powdrill将于明年1月从火狐体育下注健康科学学院(UK College of Health Sciences)退休. 他很高兴在退休后继续追求他生命中的另一个使命:为旅行从业者开发一种新的轻型显微镜，并将显微镜重新用于没有尖端技术的医疗环境.

 “I still want to keep doing my work, but as you get older, 你想知道你的手能在角膜下2毫米的空间里稳定地工作多久,” he said. “I want to keep operating as long as I can, and I want to help others who spend extended periods of time abroad. After spending 13 years working in the African bush and performing surgery, I realized there was a real need for better microscopes.”

Powdrill和他在密歇根的同事一直致力于研制一种轻型显微镜，这种显微镜的重量达到了飞机行李50磅的限制. In comparison, most operating microscopes weigh between 300-500 pounds. 他还开发了一种可以使用15小时电池的显微镜——非常适合电力不稳定的医疗环境.

“This is how I want to operate. 我想和别人一起帮助他们，这样他们就能自给自足了。. “如果我能修理一台现有的显微镜，或者提供一种解决方案，让另一个国家的人来做这项工作，那么这比我去为他们做这项工作更重要.”