SLU physician honored by Association of American Medical Colleges
Special to the American
Akwi Asombang, M.D., a fourth-year internal medicine and pediatrics resident at Saint Louis University Medical Center, has been honored by the Association of American Medical Colleges for her work with African refugees in St. Louis.
Asombang received the 2007 Resident Physician Community Service Recognition Award last month from the AAMC Organization of Resident Representatives at the association’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
In honoring Asombang, the association cited her work as a long-time volunteer and now president of ARIS, the African Refugees and Immigrant Services. It was founded to help recent African refugees integrate into the St. Louis community.
As president of ARIS, Asombang helped guide efforts on a number of health initiatives, including STD/HIV workshops for youth, breast cancer education for women and dental clinics for children. She also led fundraising and grant development efforts, organized the group’s annual “Taste of Africa” cultural event and managed the ARIS boys’ soccer team.
Asombang’s experience with ARIS has inspired her to found her own international organization, the Pan-African Organization for Health, Education and Research (POHER), which aims to help African communities with health clinic construction and education scholarships for orphans.
“She is always volunteering to help,” says Elizabeth Montgomery, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of pediatrics at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
“She just continues to get involved in so many programs where she advocates for people that need help. Ultimately, we all live in the same place, and some people make a great contribution to better that place, but I can think of nobody who has made this world a better place than Dr. Asombang.”
Born in Cameroon, Asombang spent most of her childhood in Africa while her father worked for the United Nations. She received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Saint Louis University before attending Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, India, where she served as president of her medical school class.
In addition to her medical residency at SLU, Asombang is also pursuing a master’s degree in public health from the university.
In January, Asombang will travel to Africa for a month-long study-and-work-abroad program. She will compare how medicine is practiced in Tanzania and Kenya with how it is done in the U.S. Asombang will also practice free of charge in local health clinics in the African countries.
“I hope to learn how to run a community health outreach program with minimum funds and technological tools,” Asombang says.
“I look forward to truly practicing hands-on, grass-roots medicine. I will be able to share myself and my time.”
