ALUMNI PROFILE 1 OF 6
Beyond Borders: Our Growing Global Influence
Regardless of the challenge, dream or goal, University of Dallas alumni are making significant contributions to the global community called Earth.
Pursuing Sustainable Healthcare
Tommy Heyne '06 says his real interest in the global scene started at UD. His semester in Rome was pivotal and allowed him to see the world from outside of the U.S.
“UD’s liberal arts education and the Rome semester prepared me to understand the universality of the human condition,” he said.
While an undergraduate at UD, he traveled to Monterrey, Mexico, several times for spring break to volunteer at City of the Children Hospital, a clinic for those in need.
After graduating, Tommy went on to attend the University of Oxford where he earned a master’s degree in theology/early church history, and later received a Fulbright Scholarship, spending nine months in Spain studying medieval medicine.
Heyne is now in his final year of medical school at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and will graduate in June. Recently, he participated in The Friends of Barnabas Foundation medical mission trips to Honduras in March and September 2011.
“It’s a beautiful ministry,” he remarked. “UD gave me a very solid science background and a very strong humanities background. I realize that the needs of those in need and the rich are deeper than the physical.”
One of his short-term goals is to continue medical missions and obtain a primary care residency. In the long term, however, he’d like to move to Latin America to build a hospital or work with a Catholic-based non-governmental organization to provide a sustainable model of healthcare.
“My dream is to do medical missionary work,” said Tommy. “Throughout these past four years, I’ve really tried to pursue and learn more about global health.” | | |
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