Scott Armistead, MD

Dr. Armistead trained at the Medical College of Virginia and Truman East Family Medicine Residency in Kansas City, where he met Dr. Comninellis as a faculty member. Dr. Armistead and his family lived in Pakistan from 1999-2015, providing medical care at Bach Christian Hospital, with a 1-1/2-year stint at Kanad Hospital in the United Arab Emirates when the security situation in Pakistan worsened.

Since returning from Pakistan in 2015, Dr. Armistead has taught family medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine and was in private practice before joining INMED. Since 2015, he has also worked part-time as a CMDA staff worker at VCU. At the School of Medicine, he started the month-long International Medical Mission elective for senior students during which he has taken a group annually to Karanda Mission Hospital in Zimbabwe. He completed VCU’s TIME (Teaching in Medical Education) certificate course. He loves teaching and has received teaching awards in the Practice of Clinical Medicine program at VCU and from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. He is very keen on the professional, moral and spiritual formation of students. He is active with the Urdu-speaking S. Asian refugee and immigrant population in Richmond, Virginia. His wife, JoAnn, is an ESL teacher and they have three grown sons.

Susan Aycock, MD

Dr. Aycock started her career as a full-spectrum family practitioner in rural eastern North Carolina. Her residency track prepared her for a concentration in women's health to include obstetrics and colposcopy. After twenty-five years of full-time work Dr. Aycock went to the local health department working two days per week in family planning and running the colposcopy clinic. This freedom allowed her to pursue her interest in world missions. As part of her preparation, Susan earned the Diploma in International Medicine and Public Health (DIMPH) through INMED. The service component of the DIMPH Program took her to Roatan, Honduras where she explored a women's health program. When she asked about cervical evaluations, she discovered the cost equated to a month of income for a family, so it rarely happened. Encouraged by a clinic manager to "come up with a protocol" for cost-effective treatment, Dr. Aycock has pursued this endeavor. In the meantime, the WHO resolved to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem. Dr. Aycock states, “I have resolved to develop a tool to win this battle in the service of women worldwide.” 

Jacquelyn Borst, PA-C, DMSc, MIH

Dr. Jacquelyn Borst graduated from the DeSales University PA Program in 2006. She has practiced in various areas of medicine, including hospital medicine, gastroenterology, and urgent care. In 2020, she completed her DMSc from the University of Lynchburg, and in 2023, she finished her Master’s in International Health from the Institute for International Medicine. Dr. Borst is the executive director of the International Impact through Medicine Foundation, a nonprofit that supports medical projects in Haiti and Honduras. The foundation focuses on providing service opportunities for PAs. In her role, she has led over forty short-term medical service trips to Haiti and Honduras in the last fifteen years, often bringing PA students with her. In 2018, she joined the faculty of the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania PA Program. In 2022, she became the PA Program Director, a position she continues in today.

Pedro David Espinoza

Pedro Espinoza is a TED speaker, entrepreneur, AI investor, and author dedicated to driving innovation and inclusion. As the founder of SmileyGo, he revolutionized corporate philanthropy by indexing the data of 1.3 million worldwide NGOs. Pedro is also the founder and CEO of Pan Peru USA, a nonprofit that focuses on empowering women entrepreneurs in Peru. A recognized leader in social impact, Pedro has been invited to deliver over 300 keynote speeches about his entrepreneurial immigrant story at top companies such as Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta. His books, Differences That Make a Difference, and The Real ROI: Return on Inclusion, have attracted insights from global leaders such as Eric Schmidt and Michael Dell. With degrees from Berkeley, Stanford, and Harvard, Pedro has had the honor of receiving awards like Silicon Valley's 40 under 40 by BMO, and HITEC 100, which features the 100 most influential Latinos.

Linabelle Finnegan, MA, MBA, Mmin, DMin, MIH

Linabelle grew up in a poverty-stricken community in the Philippines and witnessed first-hand the devastation when healthcare was not easily accessible. Because of this, she planned on studying medicine but “man makes the plans, but God directs his steps”. Linabelle’s education and training in business, ministry, and international health have provided a well-rounded collection of knowledge and experiences that have benefited her work in a non-clinical capacity. Linabelle is especially interested in community outreach, education, healthcare planning, infectious disease management and prevention, and solutions to pressing issues related to global disease breakouts, poverty-related health problems, and the growing population of sexually trafficked children, men and women. Locally, Linabelle is actively involved in supporting missions for trafficked children in Mountain Grove, MO, and a home for trafficked pregnant teens in Lee’s Summit, MO. Linabelle has traveled extensively on church mission trips, as well as for international gymnastics meets for her girls as members of the USA and Philippine National Teams. 

Micah Flint, MPA, RN, DINPH

Micah completed his MPA in healthcare leadership and disaster management at Park University. He holds a nursing degree and bachelor’s degrees in science and liberal arts. He received his INMED Diploma in International Nursing & Public Health (DINPH) in 2008. Micah was the former Chief Innovation Officer, where he oversaw the development of new INMED programs. He is an active member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and his clinical focus is in lifestyle health and sports medicine.

Micah has provided presentations at local and national conferences on topics ranging from Disaster Response, Cross-Cultural Skills, Health Leadership, and Simulation. He is the author of the Disaster Response: Pocketbook for Volunteers and Disaster Management in Limited Resource Settings, 2nd Edition.

Ted Higgins, MD, FACS

Dr Edward (Ted) Higgins, MD is a retired vascular surgeon from Kansas City who has built a hospital in a rural area of Haiti to help train Haitian surgeons as well as care for Haitian patients. After initially working in Haiti as a required rotation of his surgical residency at Yale, he continued his mission work teaching Dominican Republic surgeons for 20 years after establishing his vascular and general surgery practice in Kansas City. 

Following the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Dr Higgins dedicated his mission work to operating and teaching Haitian surgical residents in Haiti. To accommodate the surgical needs the Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope was built in 2016 and a full Haitian surgical staff providing 24/7 care was begun in 2018. Two years later a failing medical clinic run by clergy was reorganized and incorporated into the Surgicenter. The clinic is now the only functioning medical facility in the region of Haiti and cares for 1500 patients monthly.

Catherine Hoelzer, MPH-PA-C

Catherine Hoelzer, MPH, PA-C, has served in global medical ministry since 1992, working in conflict zones like Iraq, Sudan, and Afghanistan. With expertise in international health and development, she has led health programs for underserved communities, trained health workers, and spoken at medical conferences including CMDE, AAPA, INMED, and GMHC.

Anthony Kovac, MD, MIH

Anthony L. Kovac, MD is a Professor in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Nurse Anesthesia Education and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) in Kansas City, Kansas, USA. He has been on staff at KUMC since 1981.

Nizar Mamdani, PhD

Nizar Mamdani grew up in Tanzania, East Africa, and received his undergraduate and graduate education in Tokyo, Japan. He has served as the Executive Director of International Healthcare at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). After almost 20 years of service at UNMC, Nizar recently retired. He speaks seven languages and has traveled extensively in Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and the Middle East.

Nizar and his wife, Marsha Davidson-Mamdani, PhD, are also the founders and the CEO of First Sight, a philanthropic organization established to provide free, low-tech, fool-proof, clinically tested, and affordable vision-screening and prescription eyeglasses to children and adults in developing countries. Over 139,000 eyeglasses have been distributed by First Sight and its associates to children and adults in 18 countries and it is beginning to make a much-needed positive impact in the lives of its recipients. First Sight works with Rotary and Lions Clubs as well as with many educational, healthcare, NGOs, and faith-based organizations.

Gary Morsch, MD

Would serving people in serious need help to fulfill my life?” is a question frequently posed to Gary Morsch. He replies, “People really do want to help one another, but they often don’t know how to do it.” Dr. Morsch has invested his entire life in assisting people to discover just how. In 1993 he organized the first Physicians With Heart airlift of goodwill medical supplies to the new Russian Federation. Heart to Heart International grew out of that initiative to become one of today’s leading global humanitarian organizations, providing disaster assistance, healthcare supplies, and primary medical care in Haiti, Nepal, and the United States. Today, Dr. Morsch leads Global Care Force, providing pathways for healthcare volunteers to serve in the world’s most precarious communities.

Tim Myrick, MD

Dr. Timothy Myrick lived and served for two decades with his family in the Muslim world, including sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Horn of Africa – including INMED Training Sites Kanad Hospital and Kijabe Hospital. His wife, Lori, has served as a labor and delivery nurse alongside him. While in Kenya, they focused on the needs of Somali refugees. Dr. Myrick communicates fluently in Arabic and French, has taught medical school in northern Somalia, and is currently teaching family medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Dr. Myrick has spoken on tropical medicine topics and other medical and mission subjects at a variety of healthcare conferences and teaching events.

Ryan Northup, MD

Dr. Ryan Northup is a board-certified pediatrician at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and serves as Director for Global Health at Children’s Mercy. Clinically, he specializes in working with Spanish-speaking families at Children’s Mercy’s Clínica Hispana de Cuidados de Salud (CHiCoS) where he also serves as Medical Director of the resident clinic and Continuity Clinic Director for the pediatric residency program. He frequently advocates for improvements in health services for global populations as well as advocating for best practices in community health and engagement. He completed medical school at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and his pediatric residency at Children’s Mercy Hospital.

Dennis Palmer, DO 

Dr. Palmer is an Internist with over 40 years of experience working in mission hospitals in Cameroon, Africa. His interests include appropriate medical technology in low-resource settings and medical education especially post-graduate training for African physicians. 

Diane Petrie, APRN 

Diane Petrie is a Nurse Practitioner at Children's Mercy. She is a certified HIV Specialist (AAHIVM and HANCB). She completed her DIMPH through INMED and has a passion for global health. She also leads the missions/outreach teams at her church. Diane lives in Raymore, MO with her husband and 3 kids.

Abigail Rattin, FAAFP

Dr. Abigail Rattin has served with her family in Uganda since 2011 to strengthen the local church. Professionally, she primarily serves children with disabilities and epilepsy while equipping others to do the same. She is trained in family medicine (Greater Lawrence Family Medicine residency) and public health (UMass).

Paul Spacek, MS, CCHI

Paul Spacek is the Education and Development Program Manager for Language and Accessibility Services at Children’s Mercy Hospital, where he has worked for 11 years. In his role, Paul serves as a coach, mentor, and instructor for interpreting students and new hires, and is also involved in the development and presentation of continuing education classes and community outreach. Additionally, he designs and presents educational materials for the hospital system about how to work with interpreters and provide better care to Limited English Proficient families. Paul is a nationally certified Medical Interpreter through the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreting, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of Kansas, a certificate in Medical Interpretation from Johnson County Community College, and a Master’s degree in Adult Learning and Leadership from Kansas State University. Paul has presented previously at Medical Interpreter Conferences including, MICATA, NATI, and CCHI.

Calvin Wilson, MD

Dr. Wilson has been involved in global community and family medicine development projects for over 20 years. He developed the first university-affiliated family medicine program in Ecuador, while at the same time directing a community health development project in northern Ecuador. He served as a training advisor in a USAID project to upgrade the primary health care system in Jordan and initiated the training of the first PHC trainers in post-war Iraq. He was the founding director of the University of Colorado Hospital Family Medicine residency program and consulted with the University of Rwanda in the post-genocide re-development of several postgraduate medical residency programs. He has received several awards in global health, including the STFM Smilkstein Award in International Health, the AAFP Humanitarian of the Year, the WONCA Global Family Doctor of the Month, and the INMED International Healthcare Preceptor of the Year.