By Charity Cohen, N.C. A&T University Relations
A rising senior at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University will intern with the International Medical Aid in Mombasa, Kenya. Tyra Dennis, who is using a $1,000 grant from the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi for the opportunity, is pursuing global health advocacy through this program.
Dennis, a child development and family studies major from Chase City, Virginia, is completing this two-week internship from July 5 to July 20. She is shadowing physicians at Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital to gain firsthand experience in clinical care. In addition, she is contributing to public health initiatives focused on menstrual health education for teenage girls, supporting hygiene clinics for schoolchildren and assisting with community clinics that provide routine health screenings, such as diabetes and hypertension checks, for residents of underserved neighborhoods in Mombasa.
As a first-generation college student, Dennis was introduced to global opportunities through the stories of fellow students and alumni who studied or worked abroad. She said their experiences inspired her passion for international service and study.
“It’s very important to be culturally responsive in all aspects and all careers. That’s how you better communicate with people and do your job more effectively if you’re knowledgeable about other cultures and ways of living,” she said. “It’s very beneficial to just be immersed in the culture abroad.”
In alignment with N.C. A&T’s commitment to cultivating a global community, the university encourages students and faculty to pursue these international experiences.
“Here at A&T, we encourage our students to become global leaders, pursuing impactful international opportunities,” said Margaret I. Kanipes, Ph.D., Honors College dean and president of the university’s Phi Kappa Phi chapter. “Tyra will represent this university with excellence abroad.”
Dennis, a 2025 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholar, first studied abroad during the summer of her freshman year, spending nine days in the British Isles with the Honors College. The Gilman scholarship is awarded through a competitive, merit-based program funded by the U.S. Department of State to support abroad experiences.
Additionally, Dennis is an 1890 Scholar in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and was recognized with its Department of Family and Consumer Sciences’ 2024 Excellence in Academics and Leadership Award. As an active Honors College student involved in several academic and professional organizations, she is a member of Alpha Lambda Delta First Year Honors Society, Psi Chi Psychology Honors Society and Kappa Omicron Nu Human Science Honors Society. She joined Alpha Kappa Psi, the professional business fraternity, in 2025.
Dennis plans to pursue a degree in public health with the ultimate goal of becoming a pediatric neurologist.
