North Liberty’s Kathy Long receives Manchester Alumni Honor Award
For a life lived in humble service and generosity, Dr. Kathy Driver Long has received the highest recognition the Manchester University Alumni Association can bestow upon a graduate.
The North Liberty, Ind., retired physician has received the Alumni Honor Award.
Long has taken part in numerous trips to South America with a medical delegation as part of the Manchester University Medical Practicum. The practicum, well into its third decade, offers health clinics in remote areas – some accessible only by dugout canoe – and continues the tradition of service learning that generations of Manchester students well know.
For the longtime emergency room physician, doing “what you can when you can,” this practicum has meant using three weeks of vacation at a time to serve the impoverished people of Nicaragua, living on rice and beans, and mentoring the Manchester students who work alongside her.
Asked why she does that, her answer is characteristically straightforward: “We’re given to,” says Kathy, “so we give back.”
Her husband, Joe, also a Manchester graduate, has joined Kathy on the practicum trips. On their very first practicum, they took the children too, then ages 10, 12 and 14. They wanted them to experience a different way of life, to see how people in other parts of the world live.
On practicum experiences, Kathy has provided patient, rock-solid support in work both visible and behind the scenes. She has mentored many MU students, helping them find their career paths and encouraging some to pursue medicine. She has also been instrumental in identifying other health care professionals who provide the practicum with a broader base of support and strengthen its sustainability over time.
Now retired, Kathy once found reward in helping her ER patients quickly and then moving them on to care that would offer them the greatest benefits. “Medicine doesn’t always follow a book,” Kathy says. Sometimes, “you have to think outside the box.”
The 1971 Manchester graduate lives its mission: “Manchester University respects the infinite worth of every individual and graduates persons of ability and conviction who draw upon their education and faith to lead principled, productive, and compassionate lives that improve the human condition.”
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Manchester University, with campuses in North Manchester and Fort Wayne, Ind., offers more than 60 areas of academic study to 1,600 students in undergraduate programs, a Master of Athletic Training, a Master of Pharmacogenomics and a four-year professional Doctor of Pharmacy.
October 2016