Shoulder to Shoulder Global Helps UK earn International Impact Award

By Ryan Clark

CHS Communications Director

Shoulder to Shoulder Global — a program implemented by the office of Global Health Initiatives in the University of Kentucky International Center and features several faculty and staff from the College of Health Sciences — has helped the school to be recognized with an International Impact Award from the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.

The University of Kentucky was one of just three schools to receive an award, which it earned because of two initiatives: Shoulder to Shoulder, as well as for its work with refugee students.

The University won the APLU International Impact Award for Global Engagement, which “recognizes a high degree of global engagement on their campus, in their community, and/or with international partners.” 

Eric Monday, UK executive vice president for finance and administration and co-executive vice president for health affairs, and Sue Roberts, associate provost for internationalization, accepted the award from the APLU on behalf of UK in Seattle on Nov. 14.

Shoulder to Shoulder Global works with academic and community partners to improve the health and well-being of an underserved community in Santo Domingo, Ecuador. The heart of the partnership is transformative inter-professional experiential learning opportunities for students, staff, faculty and community members.

These take place through a partnership with the Centro de Salud Hombro a Hombro clinical facility. Since 2007, this partnership has grown to encompass the core missions of education, service and research and has seen participation from all of UK’s academic colleges. Over the last 16 years, more than 1,300 students, staff, faculty and community members have participated in Shoulder to Shoulder’s programs in Ecuador. In that time, more than 40,000 patients in Ecuador have received medical consultations from participants. 

“Congratulations to the winners of the APLU International Impact Awards,” said APLU President Mark Becker. “Public research universities are major drivers of progress through their global engagement, research and teaching and we’re delighted to recognize institutions that have excelled in global engagement in these areas.”

The awards recognize results in three categories across the institution:

• Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity— how the institution empowers all stakeholders in its internationalization efforts;
  
   
• Institutional Commitment— how the institution’s leadership (at the president/chancellor or provost level) is committed to Global Engagement, Global Research, or Global Teaching and Learning, and how they make it a priority for the institution;
  
   
• Assessment— how the institution measures participation and impact.

In 2002, the College of Medicine’s Dr. Tom Young — the founder of Shoulder to Shoulder Global — traveled to Ecuador on a Medical Brigade. Since then, Young and the University have taken interprofessional health brigades to Santo Domingo several times per year. 

Young and the rest of the team have been able to build lasting relationships with the Tsachilia people and the community in and around Santo Domingo by creating the Centro de Salud Hombro a Hombro clinic, which is freestanding and operates throughout the year with its own independent staff. 

“This award is a great honor for UK and Shoulder to Shoulder Global, and a recognition of the campus-wide team effort that has made these interprofessional medical brigades possible for UK students, faculty and alumni over the years,” said Ellen Stockhausen, PT, DPT, a Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist for UK Physical Therapy and the Shoulder to Shoulder Global PT Coordinator. “Elizabeth Siereveld and I are grateful to contribute our time throughout the year to organize the UK Physical Therapy teams, but acknowledge that our roles wouldn’t be possible without the foundation that Dr. Lynn English (Retired, 2021) created when she pioneered the involvement of UK PT 15 years ago.

“The trips also wouldn’t be possible without the interprofessional leadership on campus from Dr. Young, Dr. Melody Ryan (College of Pharmacy, Assistant Provost for Global Health Initiatives), Dr. Hartley Feld (College of Nursing), and Craig Borie (Program manager, Office of Global Health Initiatives) along with the leadership and clinical team we work with in Ecuador,” she continued. “We are also grateful for the outstanding support from PT Program Director Dr. Patrick Pabian and the PT faculty, and from our CHS Dean, Dr. Scott Lephart, that make these yearly service-learning trips to Ecuador possible for the students in UK's Physical Therapy Program.” 

Siereveld, PT, DPT, is a staff physical therapist at UK’s Chandler Medical Center and helps coordinate the Shoulder to Shoulder PT brigades. She says the program is now looking to expand.

“The future is bright for Shoulder to Shoulder as this year, one of the brigades will be visiting other sites in Ecuador in hopes to establish new partnerships and relationships that are long lasting in other parts of Ecuador,” she said.

Stockhausen said the program shows just what interprofessional collaboration can do.

“This award is an amazing tribute to the impact that can be made when so many people come together with a vision to make a difference,” she said.