2012

Laura Chambers-Kersh has spent her life living the MVS mission of compassionate global citizenship.

Upon graduation from MVS, Chambers-Kersh lived in Costa Rica for one year. She then entered Boston University, graduating magna cum laude in 1999 with degrees in biology and Hispanic languages and literature. She completed medical school at The Ohio State University. During her studies, she worked at the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana and studied family medicine in Cuba.

During residency in Minnesota, she served as chief resident and was named Resident Teacher of the Year. Her first position as a physician was at the Northern Navajo Medical Center for Navajo Nation in New Mexico. Following an obstetrics and gynecology assignment at Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Chambers-Kersh traveled to Malawi, one of the poorest nations in the world.

In Malawi she performed clinical work in the maternity ward of Kamuzu Central Hospital and was Program Management Advisor in the Health Office of USAID/Malawi where she helped to administer a $100 million portfolio of health programs. Her time in Malawi showed her, “…the realities of HIV/AIDS in Africa and generosity in the face of incredible scarcity.”