International Scholar and International Development Studies minor King Fok ’18 (pre-health studies/sociology) has been awarded the 2016 Lord Acton Memorial Scholarship for his semester of study at Notre Dame’s London Global Gateway.
Launched by the Association of American Study Abroad Programmes (AASAP/UK), the Lord Acton Memorial Scholarship rewards a “deserving student” who “demonstrates an understanding and appreciation of the value of an international educational experience.” Sir Joseph Pilling, Honorary President of Association of American Study Abroad Programs in the UK, presented Fok with the £500 award on September 12.
Fok’s semester in London is his third experience abroad of the year. Over the summer, he traveled with the Texas Medical Mission to Peru, where he worked in a local clinic and hospital. He then spent five weeks in Ghana on a Kellogg Experiencing the World Fellowship (ETW), where he interviewed amputees and practitioners providing essential rehabilitative services in various regions of the country.
The research is part of the ongoing International Scholars Program work he is doing with Faculty Fellow Terence McDonnell, in which they are exploring the decision-making process of amputees to pursue rehabilitative services.
Fok’s work with Kellogg and his experiences abroad have brought him closer to his dreams of one day becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
While in London, Fok has pursued activities closely related to this dream, researching rehabilitative services for amputees and volunteering with organizations that support disabled people. He is also completing a parliamentary internship with the Minister for Schools, focusing on policies that ensure fair access to high-quality education.
“The Lord Acton scholarship has allowed me to enjoy a much richer cultural and academic experience in the UK,” says Fok. “I have been able to extend my research on international health care systems for the disabled and learn more about amputee and rehabilitative services in the UK.”
“I was able to visit the Surgeon's Hall Museum, headquarters to the Royal Society of Surgeons in Edinburgh Scotland, where I saw a mixture of modern and old prosthesis created in the UK. Additionally, I was able to look at rehabilitative services provided during WWII, including those used for amputees, at the museums in London.”
Next summer, Fok is hoping to return to Ghana to work with the Orthopedic Training Centre while conducting research for his International Development Studies senior capstone and senior thesis in sociology.
The Kellogg Institute for International Studies, part of the University of Notre Dame’s new Keough School of Global Affairs, is an interdisciplinary community of scholars and students from across the University and around the world that promotes research, provides educational opportunities, and builds linkages related to two topics critical to our world—democracy and human development.