GMHC 2024: United for Global Medical Missions

by Angie Wilson

Each year, the Cedarville University School of Pharmacy sends the entire first-year Doctor of Pharmacy cohort to the Global Missions Health Conference (GMHC), fully funded by the school. This year, we are excited to head to Louisville, Kentucky, from November 7–9. GMHC is the world’s largest healthcare missions conference, bringing together healthcare professionals, students, and organizations dedicated to healthcare missions.

Dr. Thad Franz, Assistant Dean of Student Services and Admissions, shares, “I always enjoy this time of the year for our students, who can get away from the academic setting for a few days to dream about how the Lord might want to use them in the missions context for their good and His glory!”

This valuable opportunity allows students to explore medical missions, discover how their skills can be used to serve both domestically and globally, and network with hundreds of professionals from various healthcare disciplines.

As a result of this conference, we have created new mission partnerships and have found sites for students to attend for APPE rotations and medical mission trips, which is a requirement in the School of Pharmacy. Dr. Zach Jenkins, Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Director of Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences, states, "GMHC provides students with fantastic opportunities to engage with like-minded healthcare professionals involved in medical missions."

This will be my fourth year attending the conference, and each time, I return inspired, blessed, and encouraged by the incredible work being done to further God's Kingdom and care for the underserved. Healthcare is an amazing avenue to spread the Gospel, and I am blessed to have a position in the School of Pharmacy in which I can help students connect with missions organizations and healthcare workers all around the world.

This year, the School of Pharmacy will be taking 37 pharmacy students, along with several faculty and staff members, to the conference. For many, this will be their first time attending GMHC. One colleague remarks, “I’ve never been to the conference, but I've heard so many great stories from students and faculty over the last couple of years. I am looking forward to worship time with our first-year students and to hearing about all that God is doing globally in and through His people!”

We are thankful for this opportunity that the Lord so graciously provides for us as a school each year, and we are looking forward to hearing all of the ways the Lord works in our students’ lives throughout this conference and in the years to come! Please join us in praying for our pharmacy students as they attend GMHC: for their hearts to be open to the Lord's leading and for the lasting impact they will have both locally and globally as pharmacists committed to serving Christ.

Angie Wilson serves as Director of Community Engagement for the Cedarville University School of Pharmacy.