When Kyle Hudgens, MD, neurologist at Baptist Montclair first went to Kenya, it was in response to a call to serve in medical missions through Jesus Harvesters Ministries, an evangelical church planting organization. He attended medical clinics as part of his trips, and as he shared his experiences with his medical director, the vision grew. Hudgens now recruits residents to make the trip with him each year as part of a tropical medicine rotation. He sees it as an important component in their medical education. "When you do work like this, you end up with a new world view," he explains. They get more out of it than just medicine…they experience a different world, where medicine is practiced differently. They have to practice more by their clinical acumen rather than by tests, which are not readily available. Specialists are not available. You have to be keenly aware of your clinical skills and develop those. They also get to improvise. We're making splints for a broken arm with cardboard. The residents really love that challenge." Hudgens typically takes four or five residents with him for the 14-to-16-day trip. Four of those days are required for the plane trips both ways, another two days to travel from the airport to the clinic and back. After five hard days of providing care to over 1900 patients, he treats the residents to a safari in the Serengeti. "After you work so hard in that situation, emotionally you can't keep going," he says. "You need some downtime." Residents who participate must pay for their own shots and personal supplies, but the cost of the trip is taken care of by the medical staff at the hospital. "They have been overwhelmingly supportive" Hudgens says.