Lincoln Scholars Learn About Compassion + Intercultural Competency

FIMRC Partners With Centre College And Lincoln Scholars Program

As a global nonprofit dedicated to providing healthcare access worldwide, FIMRC works alongside various community members from universities, health companies and fellow nonprofits, all working toward the same goal of health equity for all. We rely on the partnerships of these amazing organizations to advocate for our mission. We are so grateful for those who work alongside us, including the Lincoln Scholars Program at Centre College. 

Robert Schalkoff, the Director of the Lincoln Scholars Program at Centre College, contacted FIMRC in September of 2016 regarding the possibility of including FIMRC as one of the choices scholars have to choose from for their summer enrichment experiences. The rest is history. 

What Is The Lincoln Scholars Program?

The Lincoln Scholars Program is a four-year 'full-ride-plus' scholarship created by Centre College, a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, for those on a mission to change the world for the better. In addition to tuition, room and board, Lincoln Scholars also receive personal mentoring from the director, year-long programming in leadership and change-making and three fully-funded summer enrichment experiences benefitting both emotional and intellectual development and growth. The Lincoln Scholars Program is not major-specific; instead, it is encouraged that those who possess a deep desire to improve our world alongside the intellect and capacity to do so should apply. 

Where Does FIMRC Come In?

Rising sophomores and juniors of the Lincoln Scholars Program are required to complete a five-week summer experience to learn about the human challenge and develop empathy, compassion and intercultural competency. Each summer experience is designed around three core themes: “Serving Humankind,” “Engaging Big Ideas and Challenges” and “Grit and Tenacity in the Making.” In addition, the program looks for agents of change that have already taken action within the local or international community, which is where FIMRC comes in! 

Rising sophomores and juniors must choose within these three themes and work alongside a designated partner such as FIMRC at our project site Alajuelita, Costa Rica, where they will work alongside staff, read case studies and learn about cultural influences of public health. While rising seniors have more flexibility to choose a different FIMRC project site as they complete a high-caliber summer experience closely related to their major, potential career or graduate study. 

FIMRC And Lincoln Scholars 

As a proud partner of the Lincoln Scholars Program since 2017, FIMRC has worked diligently to create new and exciting opportunities for students to engage in when COVID-19 brought in-person volunteerism to a halt. Centre College offered our Virtual Global Health Fellowship as an option for the summer enrichment experience, and in 2020, we had eight students participate. In addition, we have continued to receive participants from the Lincoln Scholars Program, with nine students participating this summer. As in-person travel begins to open back up, we look forward to seeing many more Lincoln Scholar students on-site in the near future and are so grateful for this incredible partnership.

Hear From Lincoln Scholar Students

"The virtual Global Health Fellowship that I was a part of was one of the most wonderful and valuable experiences that I have ever had. Even though it was virtual, and I couldn't be there in-person, I consider myself incredibly lucky that I had this amazing opportunity to participate and learn about the topic of global health. I am very thankful to the Lincoln Scholars Program and Centre College for introducing me to such an amazing organization. With the help of FIMRC and its amazing staff, I was able to explore the field of public health throughout January for four weeks. My favorite part of the Fellowship experience was attending the live sessions every day in the fields of pharmacy, psychology and primary care. The live sessions helped me gain a lot of knowledge and experience that I have never imagined myself to be exposed to. In addition, this opportunity has opened my eyes to the many facets of global health, especially the challenges that nations face while fighting for proper access to healthcare resources. One of the things that I admired most about working with FIMRC is how passionate everyone is about what they are doing to help the disadvantaged communities as much as possible. The passion and enthusiasm of staff and fellow volunteers have inspired me to look more into public health for my future career. I am truly grateful for this incredible opportunity and can't wait to be able to travel to Costa Rica in-person to volunteer again with FIMRC, and spread awareness about the topic of global health!" – Hala, Lincoln Scholars Student

“I participated in the eight-week Virtual Global Health Fellowship last summer and left feeling prepared to go out into the world and continue learning about how to best support underserved communities using the frameworks I learned from FIMRC. My experience was focused on the theme of “Engaging Big Ideas and Challenges” for the Lincoln Scholars Program, and I was excited to fulfill my summer experience virtually as international travel wasn’t an option. Ever since participating in FIMRC’s Global Health Fellowship, I feel more confident in my critical thinking surrounding global health efforts and planning actions to apply these considerations throughout the rest of my time at Centre College and upon graduation. This opportunity was an unexpected one, but it helped me solidify my career interests, and I am grateful to the Lincoln Scholars Program and FIMRC for making this special experience possible!” – Clarke, Lincoln Scholars Student 

Learn More 

To learn more about volunteering with FIMRC visit www.fimrc.org or sign up for in-person travel at Project Alajuelita, Costa Rica by visiting here. 

To learn more about the Lincoln Scholars Program, visit here.