Jack Hensien

Jack was born and raised in Charlottesville, VA. He stayed in Charlottesville for his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, where he had the opportunity to spend a summer in Haydom, Tanzania, working on a project studying the role of childhood malnutrition and stunted growth on future cognitive development and risk for metabolic syndrome. This experience inspired him to pursue a career in medicine with a focus toward global health. He plans to further explore this passion through the Kean Fellowship and feels incredibly fortunate to return to the same location to work in a clinical context as he had envisioned years before as an undergraduate. He is currently a fourth-year medical student at the University of Virginia and hopes to matriculate into an internal medicine residency program with a global health track. 

What does the Kean Fellowship mean to you?
I am incredibly grateful to receive the Kean Fellowship from ASTMH! This fellowship has given me the opportunity to return to a place that is close to my heart and to experience tropical medicine in a new and direct context. The ability to gain firsthand clinical experience in a lower resource setting is an incredible opportunity from which I expect to learn lessons extending far beyond clinical medicine. It is an honor to be included among this group of students who share a passion for tropical medicine and health equity and is an exciting step in my pursuit of a career in global health.

What do you anticipate learning?
During my time in Haydom, I hope to gain a better understanding of how medical care at a community hospital in a lower-resource rural setting compares with what I have experienced in community and academic medical centers in the United States. I anticipate exploring the language, culture, history and medical infrastructure present in Haydom and in doing so, I expect to gain a deeper appreciation for local socioeconomic and cultural factors that influence how patients perceive, access and benefit from available medical services. I plan to encounter challenges inherent in providing medical care in a lower-resource setting and anticipate identifying and developing additional skills that can help me more effectively work and support those who work in a similar context in the future.

What interests you about tropical medicine and what problems are you interested in solving?
Tropical medicine includes many disease processes that disproportionately impact global communities in lower-resource settings that lack an equitable access to care. While easier said than done, these inequities invite an opportunity to utilize clinical and research services and approaches that in many cases already exist to effectively reduce this disproportionate burden of disease. Along with being interested in tropical diseases and the sociocultural influences inherent in tropical medicine, I feel drawn to an academic career involving tropical medicine where I can utilize my present and future clinical and research skills to promote health equity in a global setting.