Clinton resident Kelly Schorr will study and serve in Vietnam as part of her preparation to become a registered nurse. Schorr is a senior at the Seattle Pacific University school of health sciences.

Schorr is one of 10 senior nursing students heading overseas for a study-abroad trip that will also give her hands-on nursing experience in both an urban hospital and rural clinics and homes.

The first half of the trip will be spent in a 250-bed children’s hospital in the city of Hue. In addition to being supervised by an SPU nursing professor, Schorr will partner with a Vietnamese nursing student and be taught by an English-speaking Vietnamese physician. Schorr will spend the second half of her trip working in clinics and making home visits in rural areas of Vietnam. She will focus on sharing basic hygiene information, such as the importance of washing hands and proper trash disposal.

Vietnam, which has a population of more than 86 million, became politically isolated after the 1975 communist victory in the Vietnam War. In the years since, Vietnam has re-established diplomatic relations with most countries.

The school of health sciences organizes this trip so that students are given the opportunity to have a transcultural clinical practicum experience. The Vietnam trip’s purpose is to learn about nursing in other cultures, as well as to prepare students to become registered nurses.