Rural and Public Health Service-Learning Program
June 3-August 1, 2025
Courier Program Orientation in Kentucky: June 3 – June 6
Courier Program Internship: June 9 – August 1
This summer, the Frontier Nursing University’s (FNU) Courier Program Public Health Internship will be a seven-week fully remote service-learning program with a rich and adventuresome history that targets college students with an interest in public health, healthcare, social work, or a related field. The Courier Program Internship offers a unique opportunity for students to gain insight into the challenges and opportunities of providing healthcare in the United States. Throughout this seven-week program, students become immersed and engaged through summer readings, group discussions, and volunteering, and their clinical observation sites will be located where the intern resides.
Meet Our 2025 Couriers
"I am from New Orleans, Louisiana. I am a junior studying Public Health and African American Studies at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, MO. I come from a large family, so one of my main hobbies is cooking. Some of my favorite memories are of cooking with my mom and grandmother before a big holiday gathering. I also enjoy sewing, watching/ talking about movies, and reading."
Kennedie S.
2025 Courier
"I'm a junior at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ, and I'm from Phoenix, AZ. I'm studying Medicine and minoring in EMS, Biochemistry, and Spanish. I'm a transfer student, and I originally went to the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, where I met my husband. I currently am an EMT at my university, where we respond with Tucson Fire to 911 calls on and around campus. I enjoy gardening, mushroom foraging, and swimming."
Monica B.
2025 Courier
"I am a rising junior at Augustana College with majors in Psychology, Creative Writing, and English. I live in the suburbs of Chicago, and I love traveling, writing, volunteering, and anything pink. A fun fact about me is that I also have a dog named Jax!"
Olivia F.
2025 Courier
"I am originally from Westminster MD, but I am currently a junior at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. I am a kinesiology major with a career path in occupational therapy. A fun fact about me is that my family and I were on Family Feud. I love to read, be with my friends, and ride horses in my free time."
Olivia B.
2025 Courier
"I am from Woodbridge, Virginia. I am currently attending Virginia Tech located in Blacksburg, VA. I am a junior majoring in Public Health planning to get my masters in Dietetics. For my career, I plan to become a registered dietitian and help create culturally sensitive programs for creating a healthy lifestyle whether it's for students, families, or athletes. Additionally, I have a passion for helping minorities who are suffering from food insecurity. Some fun facts: I used to be a competitive jump roper and had the opportunity to compete at the ESPN complex in Florida. I also love cooking and doing fun physical activities."
Peniel T.
2025 Courier
"I just finished my junior year at Washington & Jefferson College which is located about 35 minutes south of Pittsburgh. I'm Pre-Med and a Bio major with minors in Chemistry and Gender and Women's Studies. I'm involved in lots of things on campus, most notably in working as a Resident Assistant and competing on the golf team. My hometown is Edwardsburg, Michigan, which is right on the Michigan-Indiana border, and I'm excited to return home for the summer to be with my younger sister and my black lab Rooney. One fun fact about me is that I am a self-proclaimed bread enthusiast and have been perfecting my bread making skills for the past six months."
MacKenzie S.
2025 Courier
"I'm a rising senior at Lincoln University majoring in Health Science with a focus on Sports Medicine. I’m originally from Philadelphia, PA, and began my college journey at Virginia State University before transferring to Lincoln after three years. Currently, I serve as an athletic training intern at Lincoln, where I’ve gained hands-on experience supporting student-athletes. My interests go beyond sports medicine—I’m passionate about all aspects of health and public health. A fun fact about me is that I’m also an urban model. I’ve been modeling for a little over three years, balancing my academic and professional goals with creative expression in the modeling world."
Zeta P.
2025 Courier
After spending three weeks reading and discussing their book assignments, students will begin their clinical observations in and around their place of residence. During their clinical observations, Couriers will shadow a variety of clinicians and provide leadership on special projects, as well as other avenues of community participation. Each student’s Courier's experiences will help them to fully comprehend the complexities public health and healthcare in the United States as well as grasp the compassionate and caring legacy established by our founder, Mary Breckinridge, which is carried on by FNU students, alumni, Couriers, and faculty.
"One thing I have loved about the experience is that it showed me the true motivation behind my wanting to become a nurse. The program reinforced my decision to pursue nursing as a career."
O. 'Echi' E.
2023 Courier
The Courier Program has a “Hearts On, Hands Off” approach to learning. Couriers learn by observing their clinic site mentors, speaking with patients, assisting with special projects on health-related topics, leading events, and other projects. Couriers may participate in any activity which does not require formal medical or healthcare training. Couriers will leave with a profound understanding and deep respect for the communities they serve during their time as a Courier.
Summer 2025 Program Dates
June 3-August 1, 2025
Learn more about the program at frontier.edu/courier. Applications for the 2025 program are due by 5 p.m. on April 11, 2025. Visit this page on our Portal to apply. If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Colletti-Jones, Courier Program Director at lisa.collettijones@frontier.edu.
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Lisa Colletti-Jones
Director of Annual Giving and Courier Program
P: (859) 251-4728
lisa.collettijones@frontier.edu
"I had the pleasure of observing at the Homeplace at Midway, where I experienced networking, clinical work, and collaboration between medical professionals. These experiences at the Homeplace at Midway truly shaped what I know about healthcare and have given me fruitful experiences I can take with me to nursing school. I am very grateful for my time at Frontier and for them supporting me in my future career as a nurse."
Avery H.
2024 Courier
The Courier Program Public Health Internship aims to:
- Introduce students to the value of public health and primary healthcare services to people living in the United States;
- Support clinical and other community sites by meeting critical needs that would otherwise go unmet;
- Foster cross‐cultural skills through engagement with diverse communities and fellow students;
- Facilitate student experiences of FNU’s mission in action and encourage them to embody the Frontier legacy in their later vocations and personal lives.
"Each week, we have discussions with different practitioners and professionals who are experts in their fields. It has been amazing getting everyone's knowledge and insight and advice on how improving the healthcare system is a must."
Rebecca K.
2023 Courier
Program History
In 1928, Frontier Nursing University founder Mary Breckinridge established the Courier Program, recruiting young people to work in the Kentucky Mountains and learn about service to humanity. Couriers escorted guests safely through remote terrain, delivered medical supplies to remote outpost clinics, and helped nurse-midwives during home visits and births. Frontier has benefited tremendously from the 1,600 Couriers who have served since 1928.
Today’s FNU Courier Program Public Health Internship is a summer service-learning experience distinguished by its legacy and the adventuresome nature of its site placements. Students carry forth the Frontier mission by providing critical assistance to healthcare organizations in underserved and rural communities across the U.S.
These students are curious, adaptable, self‐motivated, and self‐structured individuals with a commitment to respect and tolerance. Courier Program participants are enrolled at various universities across the country and typically have interest in learning about public health, health care, social work or a related field.
Carrie Belin is an experienced board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins DNP program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has also completed fellowships at Georgetown and the University of California Irvine.
Angie has been a full-scope midwife since 2009. She has experience in various birth settings including home, hospital, and birth centers. She is committed to integrating the midwifery model of care in the US. She completed her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and her Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the midwifery clinical faculty at FNU. Angie is motivated by the desire to improve the quality of healthcare and has led quality improvement projects on skin-to-skin implementation, labor induction, and improving transfer of care practices between hospital and community midwives. In 2017, she created a short film on skin-to-skin called 
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).