[Editor’s Note: Happy Birthday, Migrant Clinicians Network! To celebrate our 30th anniversary this month, we are highlighting one clinician each day who has been honored in 30 Clinicians Making a Difference​​​, in which we profile the work of 30 diverse migrant clinicians from across the country and abroad. This week, we are featuring the five honored clinicians located near MCN's Salisbury, Maryland office.]

For agricultural workers, the end of May is the beginning -- crops are in the ground, and the busy growing season is ahead. For university students, however, May is an ending; it’s a time to celebrate the closing of another academic year. Next week, students of the nursing program at Salisbury University will don their graduation gowns to attend their pinning ceremony, a nursing tradition across the country for generations. Salisbury University School of Nursing professor Voncelia Brown, PhD, RN, has been dedicated to the education of the nurses of tomorrow on the Eastern Shore for over 25 years.

Dr. Brown has led her students abroad, to help broaden cultural awareness and shed light on health disparities worldwide. She then takes her students back home, to expose them to their local community’s unaddressed needs and vulnerabilities. Dr. Brown has focused on community mental health, which is about “empowering those who are voiceless and disenfranchised -- people who are getting out of jail, all minorities, migrants,” and other underserved populations that fly under the radar in the community.

One fun fact about Dr. Brown’s profile for 30 Clinicians Making a Difference is that she names fellow 30 Clinician Sister Eileen as a role model. Both are essential in addressing the needs of underserved populations on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

You can read Dr. Brown’s complete profile here.

Help us honor the work of Dr. Brown by sharing her profile. And, make sure to check out the profiles of all 30 clinicians at the 30 Clinicians Making a Difference webpage.

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