Medical missionary: Leslie Mueller, Class of 2011

Leslie Mueller climbs Mount Kilimanjaro

Fort Worth, Texas

8/29/2011

Leslie Mueller, ’11 was on top of the world this summer after climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro while in Tanzania on a month-long medical mission trip with International Service Learning (ISL), a group that sends teams of medical and educational volunteers to under-served populations in Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean and Africa.

Mueller writes: “For three weeks we went from house to house in very poor villages and did physical exams and basic health education. We set up clinics in the villages as well, and worked with local doctors to diagnose and treat patients.

“On the fourth week, some of us climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, which was one of the most physically and emotionally draining things I've ever endured, but was so rewarding!”

The trip to Africa was Mueller’s fourth trip with ISL. She served at an orphanage in China in July 2009, in the Dominican Republic in March 2010 and in Nicaragua in March 2011.

Mueller, who graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in nutritional sciences, is a registered dietitian and is applying to physician assistant (PA) programs. She lives in Omaha, Neb., and is taking a few more prerequisite classes for PA school and interning at the children's hospital there.