Program: Master of Science in Anesthesia
Year: Second-year
Despite facing hardships as immigrants with no formal education, Gurpreet Kaur’s parents always emphasized the importance of “seva,” or selfless service. Kaur put that lesson into action as an undergraduate student at Kent State University, partnering with a friend to found the Project Kaur Foundation in 2015. Now a student in Case Western Reserve’s Master of Science in Anesthesia program set to graduate this spring, she’s made it her mission to lead a more purposeful life and give back to the community.
The Project Kaur Foundation supplies food, water and personal care items to those in need, both in Cleveland and beyond. Prior to the pandemic, the foundation’s volunteers prepared meals for 300 people in Cleveland two to three times a month. In response to the challenges the pandemic presented, the foundation has tried to meet the needs of the community by hosting a winter clothing drive and creating care packages with toiletries for those displaced from homeless shelters in Cleveland. Other projects have included providing a trailer of clean drinking water to survivors of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico for in 2017 and working with Khalsa Aid, an international humanitarian relief organization, to raise funds for those facing devastating flooding in Kerala, India, in 2018.
“Getting together with friends to do something that is kind and helpful just makes you feel good,” said Kaur.
Helping others is also a key tenet of what she does as an anesthesia student.
“We are patient advocators,” she said. “Our job is to keep our patients safe and comfortable throughout their surgeries.”
Kaur’s intended career will provide her the opportunity to combine her interests in pharmacology and physiology, and, ultimately, have a work-life balance that will allow her to continue operating her nonprofit.
Now, Kaur has her sights set on the board exam and interviewing for potential job placements. In the future, she would like to participate in a medical mission trip.