INMED
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
– William Arthur Ward
Faculty, Instructors, & Consultants
Welcome to our dedicated academic team. Faculty are the heart of collaborative decision-making in INMED’s academic community. Their voices come together to shape policies, foster innovation, and ensure the academic well-being of our institution. Instructors and consultants are passionate about sharing knowledge and fostering professional growth. They play a vital role in shaping the learning experiences of our students. Explore the profiles and stories that make up the tapestry of our academic community.
Dr. Armistead trained at the Medical College of Virginia and Truman East Family Medicine Residency in Kansas City, where he met Dr. Comninellis as a faculty member. Dr. Armistead and his family lived in Pakistan from 1999-2015, providing medical care at Bach Christian Hospital, with a 1 1/2 year stint at Kanad Hospital in the United Arab Emirates when the security situation in Pakistan worsened.
Since returning from Pakistan in 2015, Dr. Armistead has taught family medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine and was in private practice before joining INMED. Since 2015, he has also worked part-time as a CMDA staff worker at VCU. At the School of Medicine, he started the month-long International Medical Mission elective for senior students during which he has taken a group annually to Karanda Mission Hospital in Zimbabwe. He completed VCU’s TIME (Teaching in Medical Education) certificate course. He loves teaching and has received teaching awards in the Practice of Clinical Medicine program at VCU and from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. He is very keen on the professional, moral and spiritual formation of students. He is active with the Urdu-speaking S. Asian refugee and immigrant population in Richmond, Virginia. His wife, JoAnn, is an ESL teacher and they have three grown sons.
Professor
Nicholas Comninellis MD, MPH, DIMPH
Nicholas’ Blog
Nicholas’ Videos & Presentations
Nicholas Comninellis is President and Professor of INMED, the Institute for International Medicine. He is also part-time faculty at Research Medical Center Family Medicine Residency. Over a two-year period Dr. Comninellis served inner-city citizens at Shanghai Charity Hospital. Over another two years, he led a healthcare ministry in the war-besieged nation of Angola in southern Africa. Dr. Comninellis next served for six years in the Kansas City public hospital before launching INMED in 2003.
He graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine and Saint Louis University School of Public Health and was a family medicine resident at John Peter Smith Hospital. Dr. Comninellis also earned a professional diploma in tropical medicine from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and became board certified in both public health and family medicine. Among his authored books are Shanghai Doctor, Where Do I Go From Here, and INMED International Medicine & Public Health. Dr. Comninellis is a classical guitarist and faculty co-advisor for UMKC Cru. He was recognized as the 2009 United Nations Association of the United States World Citizen and the 2015 University of Missouri-Kansas City Alumni of the Year.
Associate Professor
David Culpepper MD, FACP
Dr. Culpepper is an internist and Point of Care Ultrasound Fellow with Ultrasound Leadership Academy. Armed with a professional Degree in Pharmacy, he trained at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, he is certified in echocardiography and internal medicine, holds a Fellowship in the American College of Physicians, and practiced general internal medicine plus hospital medicine for three decades. Dr. Culpepper has provided volunteer medical services to marginalized people in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Romania, Kenya, and refugees on the Greek Island of Lesvos. His professional passion is teaching point of care ultrasound skills to those serving around the world in low-resource communities, and since 20015 Dr. Culpepper has taught ultrasound skill for INMED learners.
Associate Professor
Micah Flint MPA, RN, DINPH
Micah completed his MPA in healthcare leadership and disaster management at Park University. He holds a nursing degree and bachelor’s degrees in science and liberal arts. He received his INMED Diploma in International Nursing & Public Health in 2008. Micah is INMED’s erstwhile Chief Innovation Officer, where he oversaw the development of new INMED programs. He is an active member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and his clinical focus is in lifestyle health and sports medicine.
Micah has provided presentations at local and national conferences on topics ranging from Disaster Response, Cross-Cultural Skills, Health Leadership, and Simulation. He is the author of the Disaster Response: Pocketbook for Volunteers and Disaster Management in Limited Resource Settings, 2nd Edition.
Associate Professor
John Gibson MD, DIMPH
Dr. Gibson is Director of Rural and Global Health Education at University of North Texas Health Sciences Center. He is also teaches ultrasound for both UNTHSC medical students and for family medicine residents at John Peter Smith Hospital, including obstetrical ultrasound applications. Dr. Gibson lived in Thailand from 1984-2004, training medical personnel and providing care for marginalized people throughout the nation. Dr. Gibson is a certified diagnostic ultrasound instructor.
Professor
Paul Larson MD, MS, MBA, CPE, DTM&H, FAAFP
Paul Larson is Chief of Primary Care for The Lifespan Physician Group in Providence, Rode Island. Formerly, Director of Global Health Education at UPMC St. Margaret Family Medicine Residency in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A graduate of University of Massachusetts Medical School and Washington Hospital Family Medicine Residency, he completed a post-graduate diploma in Tropical Medicine at the University of Liverpool and practiced full-spectrum Family Medicine in Kenya as acting medical director of a district hospital. Paul is married to Alysia with five active teen/adult children. Paul is a Medical Officer for the Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary.
Professor
Joe LeMaster MD, MPH
Dr. Joseph LeMaster is a tenured full professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at Kansas University Medical Center (KUMC), where he is an active researcher (since 2011) and provides targeted primary care for refugees from the Himalayan nation of Bhutan. Himself a graduate of KUMC, Dr. LeMaster and his wife Judy lived in Nepal from 1990-2000, LeMaster in 1994 completed the Public Health in Developing Countries 1-year course from the London School of Hygiene And Tropical Medicine (a tool-box course for public health leaders in developing countries). He served first at Okhaldhunga Hospital (an affiliate of the United Mission to Nepal), the only medical care facility for 300,000 people, where they promoted maternal-child health and conducted leprosy research; and later at Anandaban Hospital, a facility operated by The Leprosy Mission International. He went on to obtain a Master’s in Public Health focused on epidemiology from the University of Washington School of Public Health.
Dr. LeMaster has been teaching with INMED since 2008, with particular contributions in cross-cultural skills, health leadership, and participatory learning and action. His research primarily focuses on improving healthcare for US primary care patients (mostly refugees and immigrants) who have limited English proficiency. He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and numerous other foundations. He currently Chairs the Committee on Advancing the Science of Family Medicine and is a Board member of the North American Primary Care Research Group; and directs the American Academy of Family Medicine National Research Network (a US-based nationwide practice-based research network. He is also the Medical Director and Local Health Officer for Johnson County, Kansas (population 613, 000). His wife Judy, a retired obstetric and public health nurse, is a member of the INMED Board.
Associate Professor
Fred Loper MD
Fred Loper is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine. As a third-year medical student, he was part of the founding of Good Shepherd Ministries Medical Clinic – a faith-based, not-for-profit clinic that serves the uninsured people of Oklahoma City to this day. After completing his residency at the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Loper served as a primary care physician at Central Oklahoma Medical Group (COMG). In 1986, he was appointed as the National Missionary for Medical Missions for a North American mission board, and in 2005, he became Executive Director of Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship, leading physicians, dentists and other health professionals in volunteer healthcare service in the US and abroad. In 2012, Dr. Loper returned to Good Shepherd Ministries Medical Clinic to serve as their full-time medical director and completed his active practice career as an Associate Physician at Community Health Centers of Oklahoma, a Federally Qualified Health Center.
Professor
Susan Radecky MD, MPA
Dr. Radecky is a Family Physician with a passion for teaching and serving internationally. She graduated from Northwestern University Medical School and the Grand Rapids Family Medicine Residency training program affiliated with Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She was Director of that program from 1987 until 2006, leading the faculty and guiding young professionals on their journey to Family Medicine. She is an accomplished speaker with involvement with the American College of Physician Executives, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, and national Board Review courses. Serving in short term medical missions has been part of her work throughout her career. She and her Hematologist husband, David have served in many hospitals in Asia and Africa for blocks of time at mission hospitals, learning, encouraging and supporting their ministries.
INMED
“Do something wonderful, people may imitate it.”
– Albert Schweitzer
Ultrasound for Primary Care Instructor
Mark Muilenberg
Mark Muilenburg is an ultrasound technologist originally from the Iowa City area. His is largely focused on equipping healthcare professionals with critical ultrasound skills essential for underserved communities. Such teaching has brought him to Africa and Asia, and several times to teach at INMED. Realizing the limits of infrastructure in low-resource communities, he is currently very involved in the product development of a wireless, battery-powered, cell-phone-sized, high-resolution ultrasound scanner. When he’s not abroad teaching ultrasound, Mark Muilenburg shares his skill at a crisis pregnancy center in Naples, Florida.
Helping Babies Breathe Instructor
Vydehi Murthy MD
Dr. Murthy is a neonatologist with Saint Luke’s Health System in Kansas City, previously serving with as a neonatology fellow at Children’s Mercy Hospital. Dr. Murthy was raised in India, continues to be particularly committed to low-resource communities, and has taught Helping Babies Breathe with INMED since 2012.
Helping Babies Breathe and Essential Care for Every Baby Instructor
Rebecca Schmitt MD, FAAP
Dr. Rebecca Schmitt is a board certified general pediatrician practicing at Froedtert Holy Family Memorial in Manitowoc, WI. She completed her pediatric residency at New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist. She was born and raised in Green Bay, WI and excited to have returned to the area to serve her pediatric patients. She has always had a special interest in global health and medicine, both educating and serving those around the world in most need. Her biggest global health passions are newborn care and clean water projects. She has taught Helping Babies Breathe with INMED both domestically and internationally, serving the people of Roatan, Honduras.
INMED
“When you absolutely positively have to know, ask a librarian.”
– American Library Association
Librarian
Kitty Serling
Kitty started her information professional career working in Public Libraries. After serving on her community and on her state health boards, and after assisting in the emergency birth of a cousin’s child, she moved into the special librarianship field of Medical Libraries.
During her transition from Public Libraries to Medical Libraries, Kitty interned in a VA Hospital Library.
Under the supervision of John Renner, MD, https://quackwatch.org/ncahf/about/renner/, Kitty served as the Librarian for the first Consumer Health / Patient Education Library in the Kansas City Metro area. The Library’s goals included health literacy and how to recognize disinformation, misinformation, and especially quackery scams. Located in the Family Practice Residency at St. Mary’s Hospital, the Library supported the clinical needs, scholarship ventures, and publications of the faculty, staff, and residents. Outreach to patients and to the community included a weekly radio program, and a weekly newspaper column.
When St. Mary’s Hospital closed, Kitty transitioned into a Health Sciences Librarian position. Ever since then, she has worked as an information professional in a health care setting.