Just months after being named VCOM-Carolinas’ Global Health Scholar, Robert Blake Eysler has received more recognition for his work in global health.
Eysler, member of the Class of 2027, has now been named the 2026 Global Health Scholar of the Year by the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), selected as the sole recipient from 73 nominees representing colleges of osteopathic medicine across the country. He is the first student from VCOM to receive the award.
The honor builds on Eysler’s continued involvement in international medical outreach and his focus on improving access to care in underserved communities. Those experiences, he said, have shaped how he understands both medicine and opportunity.
As an undergraduate studying biological sciences at Florida Atlantic University, Eysler sought out meaningful volunteer experiences and became involved with a student organization focused on international medical outreach. His first experience, a trip to rural Ghana, proved transformative. “I didn’t arrive at medical school in a traditional path,” Eysler said. “My journey into medicine began in global health, where I saw what medicine looks like when access disappears.”
Rather than viewing the experience as a one-time service opportunity, Eysler remained engaged and gradually assumed leadership roles within the organization. He helped expand the group into a multi-campus program across Florida, engaging hundreds of participants. In that role, Eysler organized and led multiple international outreach trips, collaborating with physicians and local clinicians to provide care in underserved communities. Through that responsibility, he saw firsthand how preparation, teamwork, and clinical knowledge directly influence patient care.
One outreach experience in Colombia left a particularly lasting impression. During the trip, Eysler and his team treated a woman for a minor skin infection. Following her visit, she invited the team to her home, where she showed them the single room where her family of seven lived. “Seeing how quickly circumstances erased access to health care and stability stayed with me,” Eysler said. Using remaining trip funds, the team purchased a mattress for the family, reinforcing a lesson he continues to carry forward: Medicine does not end at the clinic door, but extends into the realities patients face when they return home.
Working in resource-limited settings also influenced the type of physician Eysler hopes to become. In global health environments, supplies can be limited, plans may change, and teams must adapt quickly. “Clear communication, clinical judgment, and teamwork mattered more than having ideal conditions,” he said.
That perspective continues to inform Eysler’s medical training at VCOM-Carolinas. In 2024, he participated in VCOM’s international outreach trip to Honduras, an experience that reinforced the same lessons he learned earlier in his global health work. Together, these experiences have shaped his goal of becoming a physician who can prioritize effectively, work collaboratively, and deliver high-quality care regardless of setting.
Eysler credited mentors, collaborators, and the communities he has served as central to his development as a future physician, noting that his global health experiences have been among the most formative parts of his training.
Matthew D. Cannon, DO, FACOFP, dean for VCOM-Carolinas and senior dean for all VCOM campuses, recognized the achievement: “This is an outstanding accomplishment. We are proud of Robert and the impact he is making through his work in global health.”
The Global Health Scholar of the Year Award, established by COSGP, recognizes osteopathic medical students who demonstrate a strong commitment to advancing international understanding of osteopathic medicine. AACOM represents the education and training of more than 38,000 future physicians across the nation.
