Audiology and speech-language pathology students also spend time working with Polish special needs students during nine-day mission trip to Krakow

The MGH Institute’s humanitarian work overseas was a big draw for audiology student Morgan Sanborn when she decided to enroll. Same with Payton Kober. They were among the first to sign up to work with Ukrainian refugees during a trip that took place over winter break. 

For Abigail Wenner, the chance to help Ukrainian refugees with their hearing was personal. 

“I have family members that were affected by the war,” said Wenner, “and knew as soon as I learned about this ongoing effort that this was something I wanted to do.”

The ongoing effort of bringing MGH Institute students overseas is organized by Audiology Professor King Chung, who led a contingent of seven students on a nine-day service trip to Krakow, Poland, just before Christmas. They tested the hearing of more than 40 Polish students with special needs on the first day, then treated a flood of refugees who fled their native Ukraine when Russia invaded their country nearly three years ago. 

“We’re using our profession to fight social injustice, especially in the war zone,” said Chung, who has led six service trips to Poland. “People are only talking about how many people died but they don't talk about how many people had tinnitus, and how many people suffer from hearing loss because of the shelling and bombings. We’re doing what we can to fight this social injustice.”

For Sanborn, utilizing interpreters and a translation app on her phone to help Polish students and Ukrainian refugees was both educational and illuminating.

group of audiology students in poland

Student Views: Poland Trip

 

“Working in the field is fundamentally different from working in a clinical setting,” noted Sanborn. “We were limited in the amount of equipment we could bring, which required a completely different mindset. If something went wrong, we had to adapt quickly, think creatively, and come up with alternative solutions—approaches we might not consider in a fully equipped clinic back home. It was an incredible experience—'amazing' is truly the one word that captures it.” 

“One of the reasons I came to the MGH Institute is the humanitarian work that Dr. Chung does,” said Kober. “From the moment I heard about the trip to Poland, I knew it was an opportunity I needed to embrace. Upon arriving in Poland, it became immediately clear that this was where I was meant to be and exactly what I was supposed to be doing. While I do not always know what my future will hold I am certain that humanitarian work, like what we did in Poland, will be an integral part of it.”

Kober was joined by fellow audiology students Wendy Vong, Sanborn, and Wenner and Speech Language Pathology students Kelly Marshall and Jacqueline Dwyer. 

“We did have interpreters but there were multiple stations and only so many to go around,” said Marshall, a speech-language pathology student who was in charge of the documentation and administration work. “So, we had to be flexible kind of figure it out. I had Google Translate on my phone, and I had the Ukrainian keyboard on my phone if a patient needed it to talk to me.”

Also joining the mission trip was Burgundy Bisson, an audiology student from California State University, Los Angeles, who was told about the trip by her mentor who went on it last year. 

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t daunting,” said Bisson. “I was joining a group of students from one of the top audiology programs, and I couldn’t help but question if I’d measure up. I knew this was an opportunity worth taking.”