 Alumni Interviews:
Tom and Sarah Morgan
The more they give, the more they receive
"Service is a natural expression of
my gratitude for the gifts and talents I've been blessed with.
Through service, I am always gifted by the generosity of other
people and other cultures." - Sarah Morgan
Tom and Sarah Morgan wouldn't describe their experiences as physician
assistants as careers, but instead as part of a life of service.
Headquartered in small Onawa, Iowa, the UI Carver College of
Medicine graduates reach out with their medical work from the Midwest
to Haiti and East Africa.
Sarah, who earned her master's degree from the UI Physician Assistant
Program 1994, recently returned from a two-week trip to Haiti.
There, she worked with a group of PAs and PA students through the
University of North Dakota and the Haitian Health Foundation to
hold primary health care clinics and help with the foundation's
outpatient clinic in Jeremie. The foundation provides health care
to about 350 to 400 patients per day, she said.
"The mission of the foundation is to improve the health
and well-being of the poor, the sick and the infirm of Jeremie
(located in western Haiti) and to break the bonds of poverty that
tie so many Haitians to a life of great deprivation," she
says.
"Service is a natural expression of my gratitude for the
gifts and talents I've been blessed with. Through service, I am
always gifted by the generosity of other people and other cultures."
Tom, who received his master's degree from the UI Physician Assistant
Program in 2000, has traveled once to Tanzania, three times to
East Africa, and once to Sierra Leone in West Africa. He traveled
with the Siouxland Tanzania Education Medical Mission to help perform
surgeries.
"As a volunteer, I found that I often receive more than
I give," he said. "It is a strange phenomenon in that
one tries to give away some talent or material possession and in
doing so receives a much richer spiritual blessing in return."
Taking yearly service trips to places across the globe has become
tradition for the Morgans, but integrating service into their daily
jobs is just as important.
Sarah works in Onawa, a community of about 3,500, at a rural
health care clinic where she evaluates, diagnoses, treats and educates
patients in a family practice setting.
Tom is a full-time physician assistant for the Omaha Tribe of
Nebraska in Macy, Nebraska, at the Carl T. Curtis Health Education
Center.
The nature of service is what drew the couple to the PA profession.
Seeing the importance of medical training during her time in
the Peace Corps in West Africa in the 1980s, Sarah entered the
PA program at Iowa. She also was attracted to the PA model, which
emphasizes preventive medicine and allows for spending extra time
with patients to develop rapport and educate them on issues that
affect their health and quality of life, she said.
After seeing his wife's positive experiences with the Iowa PA
program, Tom decided to enter a field he knew he would love and
be able to live with.
"I swore I would never work for an extended period in a
position that was strictly for money, and one without learning
or taking satisfaction and pride in my efforts," he said. "I
had seen too many people who hated their career but due to financial
considerations had no other options but to meet the bills. So for
me, a position as a mid-level healthcare provider gave me the opportunity
to interact with people one to one, address multifaceted problems,
work with some of the brightest people in our society and get paid
for it."
Free time is limited for the couple, but they both enjoy spending
it with their children, Rebekah (age 15) and Matthew (age 5). Sarah
also enjoys hiking in the nearby Loess Hills and Tom takes on household
projects. Tom is also an ordained deacon in the Catholic Church.
However, service and faith are always integral parts of life
for the Morgans.
"Through service, the innate goodness of humankind is revealed,
both through the giving and the receiving," Sarah said. "It
also instills an appreciation for the similarities and the common
struggles of people the world over. We all have more in common
than we generally recognize."
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