After spending five months in Lithuania as a Fulbright scholar a year and a half ago, Donald Neumann will speak today about his experiences as a physical therapy educator in the Baltic state.
Neumann, associate professor of physical therapy, will speak at 4 p.m. in room 029 of the Schroeder Health Complex.
"Knowledge, Hope and Freedom: A Fulbrighter's Perspective from Teaching in Lithuania" is sponsored by the College of Health Sciences as part of the university-wide Mission Week.
Neumann first left for Lithuania, a country liberated from the Soviet Union in 1991, to help the new nation start their first university-based physical therapy program in August 2002.
Neumann said the highlight of the trip was helping to modernize the nation's health care system.
The students used the textbook Neumann had just finished writing, and the Fulbright organization bought the books for them.
"It was amazing to (the students)," Neumann said. "They couldn't afford the books on their own."
Kim Halula, associate dean for the College of Health Sciences, invited Neumann to speak as a part of the college's second annual symposium that coincides with Mission Week.
"His presentation will be a perfect tie-in to the theme of mission week — knowledge, hope and freedom," she said.
Neumann's trip was a means for him to share his health care knowledge with a country that has a newfound freedom, she said, and this education has given the people hope.
Neumann not only had to spend five months in a country where he did not speak the native language, but he also had to teach two students who did not know any English.
In a field where lessons are often visual, Neumann said he had three blind students who proved how powerful motivation could be. He said a student who was both blind and unable to speak English earned the highest grade in the class.
"I have always believed students can learn a lot more than we think they can, and this proved it," he said.
Neumann said the Lithuanian people were very gracious and motivated. He said they have spent the last decade trying to update their economy, infrastructure and health care since they made they have gone from the Soviet Union to the European Union.
Lawrence Pan, associate professor and chair of physical therapy, said that as a former Soviet bloc country, the rehabilitation services in Lithuania have been primitive.
He also said part of the reason Neumann went was to bring a Western approach to rehabilitation.
Neumann returned to Lithuania for a five-week-long personal trip this November and December to educate health care teachers.
Neumann also said that Marquette and the Medical College of Wisconsin hosted seven Lithuanian physicians and physical therapists in April 2003. Neumann said he invited another therapist to work with him this summer.
Anne Nohl, a former faculty member in the department of physician assistant studies, spoke at last year's sympsosium, according to the Mission Week web site. Nohl, then a faculty member at the Medical College, spoke about her health care experiences in Belize and Milwaukee's inner city.
