A Medical Mission

Junior Kennedy Krumm stares down at a patient lying on the operating table with a gaping hole in their stomach. With a steady hand, she stitches the man closed and briefly smiles after hearing the experienced surgeon beside her say “Perfect.”

What began with a “Grey’s Anatomy” obsession in seventh grade has now turned into Krumm’s dream job.

After growing up watching her father practice medicine as a physician and having three surgeries done on her feet, Krumm has been interested in the medical field since she was 13. Being a part of an umbilical hernia repair surgery in the Dominican Republic convinced Krumm that she can achieve the career she’s always dreamed of.

Over spring break, Krumm joined Village Presbyterian Church on their annual trip with 30 high-schoolers and eight adults to the poverty stricken town of La Romana, Dominican Republic.

Prior to going to the Dominican Republic, Krumm heard from an adult attending the trip about a medical team from the church joining the group. The team of doctors and surgeons were allowing students to assist them in different surgeries like hernia operations and gallbladder removals. After hearing about the opportunity to assist a surgeon, Krumm rushed to the sign up list and quickly signed her name at the top, to ensure she got one of five spots. She then ran to find the navy blue scrubs she’d impulsively bought while having a Grey’s Anatomy obsession.

After a six hour flight, the crew arrived to Dominican Republic and drove for an hour on a rickety school bus away from the resorts in Punta Cana into an area where Krumm said eating three meals a day is uncommon.

Upon arriving, the group of students from different high schools around the Kansas City area pulled up to the mint green, paint-chipped hospital in the Dominican Republic. Krumm ran off the bus with a smile plastered on her face, anxious to begin learning and listen for medical terms she could add to her vocabulary like peritoneum and cholecystectomy.

According to Krumm, the only thing on her mind during the surgery was following the exact directions the surgeon beside her was giving.

Krumm said she’d imagined the environment during the surgery would be hectic, but instead, the surgeons were using scalpels to make incisions without a breath of tension.

“You’re standing there thinking ‘I’m cutting them open,’” Krumm said. “My finger is inside their body, but [the operating room] was calm.”
While some students fought the urge to leave the operating room and nearly fainted at the site of blood, Krumm was fascinated to see and feel all of the organs she’d learned about in anatomy class.

After finishing the final stitch on the patient, the surgeon congratulated Krumm on accompanying him in an umbilical hernia operation. A wave of satisfaction rolled over Krumm after realizing that she helped make someone in excruciating abdominal pain feel better.

Experiencing surgery first-hand has pushed Krumm to continue exploring her passion for medicine into a career. With this, she has been researching colleges with exemplary medical programs such as the University of Kansas, the University of Arizona, and the University of North Carolina.

Kennedy’s father, physician Berent Krumm, said that for the past three to four years he has seen Kennedy’s interest in medicine.

“I think [going to the Dominican Republic] gave her a real sense that this is something she could see herself doing,” Dr. Krumm said. “She wasn’t grossed out by [the surgery] but thought it was really cool so I think that was a really good experience for her.”

According to Dr. Krumm, his daughter came back from the trip more enthusiastic about becoming a doctor and was wanting to visit him at his office more than he had expected. For this reason, he can see Kennedy eventually entering the field.

With Kennedy’s interest in mind, Dr. Krumm has suggested that Kennedy enroll into any science classes relating to medicine including anatomy. Krumm’s anatomy teacher, Erica Jablonski, thinks Krumm will become a doctor without a doubt. Jablonski said she sees Krumm’s interest in class through her intriguing questions and can tell her interest isn’t a temporary fad.

“When you look at a student, you think ‘what potential do they have?’” Jablonski said. “And she not only meets expectations but exceeds them as well.”

Until she is able to go to medical school, Krumm plans to learn about what it’s like to be a doctor by continuing to stitch the side of her stuffed animal Peppa Pig’s head and hopefully participate in more surgeries with the church on their next mission trip to Haiti.