Meet Dr. Rachel McLaughlin, an OB-GYN serving in Burundi, East Africa

Dr. Rachel McLaughlin is an OB-GYN serving in Burundi, East Africa. Her team is working to develop the hospital to be a training institute for medical students while also increasing the quality of medical care available to Burundians.

Transcript available below the video.

My name is Rachel McGlaughlin and I’m an OB-GYN. I work in Burundi, East Africa. I train medical students and treat patients there.

Our team is working to develop the hospital to be a training institute so that we can provide better patient care and also train medical students at the same time.

 I felt really called to medical mission when I was 16. I was watching a video and there were these moms that would carry their children on their backs sometimes for days to get to the nearest clinic. And up until that point in my life I guess I didn’t realize that places like that existed where people had such limited access to healthcare. So, I really felt God calling me into medical missions in that point and time.

 Medical school debt prevents a lot of people from getting to the field right away which could have long term implications for their missionary career. MedSend is a really unique organization that removed one of the largest barriers from people getting to the mission field. So just knowing, over the years, that I can continue doing what God has called me to do without worrying about this debt hanging over my head, that there is a group of people that have come together that have donated to allow me to do what God has called me to do is really encouraging for me and has really made a big difference in my ability to get to the field and stay on the field.

There are people alive today because of this work that would not have been alive. Or maybe there’s a mom who has lost a number of children to malaria and now she brought her child to the hospital and that child is alive. She has living children. And on a smaller level, I think there are a lot of people whose lives have been made better. They’ve experienced that God cares for them by the presence of compassionate medical care. I can only imagine the scope of the difference that has been made at the hospital. I know that God is working there and I know he is doing amazing things and changing the health of a whole nation because of the work that is being done. I just want to say thank you to MedSend that they invested in me all those years ago, that they believed in what God had called me to do and they supported me.

Thank you for your willingness to engage with Dr. McLaughlin and MedSend to provide compassionate care in the name of Christ to the vulnerable around the world.