Grants and Scholarships
In late 2009, Dr. Patricia Bragg and the Bragg Health Foundation offered NDI the “Paul C. Bragg Global Health Scholarship Awards.” These funds were given to NDI with the intention of establishing a scholarship fund, which would help train medical students and doctors in bringing natural medicine to the forefront of global health. The request was to split $5,000.00 into five (5) separate $1,000.00 scholarship awards to help fund the visionaries of global natural medicine through internships, courses, and global health ambassador programs every year. NDI is honored to work with Dr. Patricia Bragg and the Bragg Health Foundation to help fund the training of student doctors and practitioners in the field of Naturopathic and Natural Medicine.
2010 Paul C. Bragg Global Scholarship Award Recipients:
By Susan Yirku
Thanks to a generous NDI Global Health grant from Patricia Bragg and the Bragg Health Institute, I was privileged to complete a summer 2010 internship for Natural Doctors International targeted at advancing naturopathic medicine participation in international work. My internship role was to assist in formation of the Naturopathic Medicine Global Health Council as a representative consortium for the purpose of establishing participation in worldwide humanitarian medical relief and disaster response.
My Marylhurst University internship had the objective of advancing collaborative efforts. The internship culminated successfully in an inspiring international public forum on global health that occurred on August 13, 2010 at the Portland Convention Center in conjunction with the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians annual convention, and completion of a global health survey administered to naturopathic physicians and students. Both NDI Executive Director, Tabatha Parker, ND, and Erin Moore, global health representative for the Naturopathic Medical Student Association were supportive in accomplishing these goals.
The survey will provide baseline information for the Naturopathic Medicine Global Health Leadership Team to do strategic planning. The public forum was planned to give the entire naturopathic community an opportunity to share experience and analyze and address policy and ethical practice issues in international medical relief and disaster response work. The forum encouraged interested international health leaders and students to begin engaging in dialogue. The public forum presentation also created an opportunity to broadcast the naturopathic medicine accomplishments of several emerging international health organizations, college efforts and individual volunteerism. Representatives from many affiliate organizations attended from around the globe. The event was a first step in acknowledging the important work that ND’s are already doing with patients. One participant, Dr. Ysu Umbalo, expressed great pleasure at having an opportunity to make contacts and exchange ideas with peers. He expressed that his work at Mercy and Care International (MCI) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa can be isolating and an opportunity to network and establish an organizational collaborative will further add credibility to his work and government grant eligibility.
This experience also allowed me to interact with many international naturopathic medicine leaders and assist in expanding the NDI network of individual and organizational contacts. For example, I had personal contact with both Dan O’Neill, founder of Mercy Corps, and Bas Vanderzalm, president of Medical Teams International, both of whom were generous with advice and encouragement. I am grateful to have had an internship opportunity to make a contribution to establishing a new consortium of healthcare leaders dedicated to global health. The internship has inspired me to dedicate my senior thesis to the integration of naturopathic medical professionals into global health systems models of healthcare and education.
2009 Paul C. Bragg Global Scholarship Award Recipients:
The following are testimonials from 2009 Paul C. Bragg Global Scholarship Award recipients.
