Kurt Eifling, M.D. (left) with Caleb Flores (right) at WelcomeHealth Clinic.
By Shelby Gill / Photos by Russell Cothren
Caleb Flores, a Path Program scholar and honors biology major, thumbs through the Center for Disease Control Vaccine Schedule application on his phone. With more than 15 vaccines required to immigrate to the United States, a variety of schedules to sort through depending on age and differences in immunization nomenclature across countries, this is not a simple task for an experienced physician or an undergraduate intern.
“Undergoing a medical exam from a civil surgeon is required for residency in the United States,” Flores said. “If we can make this an easy step in a lengthy process, it’s worth it.”
Flores, a pre-med student, began interning under Kurt Eifling, M.D., at WelcomeHealth Clinic to gain clinical experience, but he also personally related to the mission.
“My mom is from Mexico,” Flores shared. “When I was young, she went through the immigration process, and even then, I remember it being difficult. Now I know why it’s difficult.”
The medical requirement for permanent residency can cost families up to $1,000 per person, including the exam, required immunizations, possible X-rays, medications and more, Eifling shared.
Eifling, who works full-time as an emergency medicine physician at Mercy Medical Center in Rogers, Arkansas and volunteers as a civil surgeon at WelcomeHealth, felt called to work with immigrants and refugees after serving in the U.S. Navy as a battalion surgeon with the Marine Corps Infantry.
“My path to being a civil surgeon started when I learned that Brig. Gen. Farrell Sullivan was the senior Marine present for the 2021 evacuation of Kabul,” Eifling shared. “He was my commanding officer and a brilliant leader on my first deployment to Afghanistan.”
Inspired by Sullivan, Eifling went on to sponsor one of the refugee families in Northwest Arkansas, even contacting his commanding officer when the family landed safely in the state.
“To me, refugees are fundamentally people who would be systematically denied a life of dignity and peace unless they escaped their places of origin,” Eifling said. “By whatever means a refugee winds up in Northwest Arkansas, I feel our community [should] meet them at the door and provide services that are accessible and affordable.”
Eifling contacted Canopy Northwest Arkansas, a non-profit focused on refugee resettlement, to learn more about the refugee needs in our community. The executive director, Joanna Krause, urged Eifling to begin the process of becoming a civil surgeon, citing a significant gap in medical services for their clients.
Before Eifling began his civil surgeon practice, Washington County had only two physicians assisting with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In a rapidly growing community, “this was not enough capacity to support people to take the next steps in their immigration process in a timely manner,” Krause said.
“Refugees arrive in Northwest Arkansas with all of their possessions in one or two suitcases,” Krause noted. “[Canopy connects them] with jobs quickly to cover their rent, food and the expenses of starting over in a new community. Understandably, families rarely have sizable savings by the 12-month mark when they are eligible to apply for their green card and need an exam by a civil surgeon.”
Partnerships with WelcomeHealth Clinic, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest, the Honors College and a grant from the State of Arkansas allow Eifling to offer services to anyone in the community in need of an immigration medical exam usually without cost. In fact, the clinic doesn’t even have a system for processing payments. When patients try to pay, it’s a moment of joy and surprise when they leave with their medical documentation completed and no impact on their finances.
“Dr. Eifling and WelcomeHealth alleviate families’ financial burden and help them take timely steps towards becoming citizens,” Krause added.
Lemine M’Bareck, immigration and legal services manager at Canopy Northwest Arkansas, works with each person applying for a green card with refugee status.
“The collaboration is what makes this possible,” M’Bareck shared, noting how the process of immigration can be complicated, but partnerships produce new access, especially for families. He believes the impact is “immense,” from helping people create their “dream lives” to the positive impact refugees have in our community – many creating their own successful businesses in the area.
As an intern, Flores helps with patient intake, specifically overseeing the documentation related to vaccinations, but his favorite part of the experience is interacting with patients. He’s met people from all over the world and expanded his language skills, learning different Spanish dialects. Flores is bilingual, and he’s able to speak to many families in their native language, which is particularly important to him.
“A key part of a good health outcome is being able to communicate with your doctor,” Flores noted. “Growing up with Spanish-speaking parents, I translated between the doctor and my mother. That’s part of what urged me to pursue medicine. I don’t want kids to worry about getting the right messages across. I want them to focus on getting better.”
Flores is the second Honors College intern who has worked under Eifling. Aleesha Imran, an honors biology and pre-med student, piloted the program the previous year, helping to install best practices and efficient processes. She trained Flores in his position, which expedited onboarding and patient impact.
“Caleb had large shoes to fill for us here because Aleesha had been so steady and so creative in helping make this system run,” Eifling shared. “But he stepped right in and has done an amazing job. Since his training, he’s able to run things with me as his co-pilot essentially.”
Like Flores, Imran searched for an opportunity to encourage the application of her Spanish-language skills in a medical setting.
“I wanted a bilingual clinic experience,” Imran shared, noting how patients often felt overwhelmed when they couldn’t communicate directly with their physician. “[The ability to] speak Spanish made patients more comfortable. I took on this role because I thought it would help me build confidence, compassion and consideration, and it has.”
Flores learned about the internship opportunity through the Honors College Futures Hub and the Path Program. The Futures Hub prepares students for their next steps after graduation, and the Path Program supports undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds with scholarship and mentorship.
“The Path Program is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me,” Flores smiled, noting his decision to go to school out of state. Flores, who is from Midland, Texas, chose the U of A because of the unique support of the Path Program. “Other than funding my education, they are my family at university. I can’t imagine being as successful without them.”
The Futures Hub, launched in 2021, provides various services for honors scholars, from workshops to one-on-one mentoring, that help students prepare for the 21st-century workforce. The relationship with Eifling and Canopy is one of the many opportunities the Futures Hub curates with the Northwest Arkansas community and beyond to prepare students for their future — in Flores’ case, graduate and professional studies.
In addition to connecting Flores to an internship, the Futures Hub also provided a grant to support the unpaid position, ensuring that competitive opportunities are accessible to all students.
“Students who are pursuing the health professions often have access to laboratory and public health research but not always to public service experiences,” Eifling noted. “I think the capacity for service is something that’s hard to measure. It’s hard to show, and it’s even harder to instill into people. This internship is special [because undergraduates] get to see a service that’s still growing to meet a need within our community.”
Because of the remarkable collaboration, Eifling’s team processes the immigration medical exams for 75 percent of the refugee population who settle in Northwest Arkansas.
“Northwest Arkansas is more dynamic and complicated than when I grew up. Being able to expose young people to those complexities and watching them learn how to run a service like this has been such a wonderful surprise,” Eifling said. “Every person applying for residency who walks through the door of WelcomeHealth will shake the hands of a University of Arkansas student. I think that’s really special.”