Kiara Smith

2021 Offered Gilman Scholarship

Hometown

Howe, IN

Major

Biomedical Health Sciences

College

College of Health and Human Sciences; Honors College

 

Established in 2001, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program is committed to sending American students of limited financial means from all backgrounds to study abroad.

 

Kiara Smith was offered the Gilman Scholarship to participate in a medical Spanish and health program in Mexico. Although she ultimately had to decline the scholarship due to the pandemic, as a biomedical health sciences major with a pre-med concentration, she plans to focus on investigating the differences between healthcare in the U.S. and the rest of the world. Mexico was the perfect location of this study abroad program to expand her understanding of comparative healthcare and increase her proficiency in medical Spanish so she can better communicate with her future patients. Motivated to examine global health and address disparities in the treatment of serious illnesses, Kiara intends to become a physician after her return.

 

Besides healthcare interests, Kiara has also served as a state delegate for 4-H STEM and presented on computer science education as part of her internship with Purdue Extension, where she designed lesson plans on computer education for local youth. With her goal of becoming a physician, she hopes to join Doctors Without Borders. Therefore, as a freshman, she got involved with Purdue’s undergraduate chapter of Doctors Without Borders so that she can use her experiences to inform her honors thesis. As a first-generation student in Horizons, she planned to complete her follow-on project by connecting students to resources on campus to guide them, including NISO, so that they can get started on their own abroad journey.