With a background as a Global Service Corps volunteer and new master's degrees in nursing and public health from the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, people often ask Laura Rainer, BSN, MS, where in the world she plans to use her skills. "Right here" is her answer.

"In Georgia, you really don't have to go far to find an international population and vulnerable people," she said.

Rainer works as a public health nurse for the Fulton County Health Department and, this summer, will serve as adjunct faculty for Emory's Farm Worker Family Health Project in South Georgia. She worked with the project for two years as a student.

For the last 13 years, Emory nursing faculty and students have joined practitioners from three other universities and staff at the Ellenton Rural Health Clinic to provide an intense two weeks of health care for more than 1,000 migrant farm workers and their families in South Georgia.

"Working with those children and adults is really where my heart is," Rainer said. "It's such a service to provide them with access to health care. I wanted to stay involved with the program after I graduated, but didn't expect to be asked to serve in a faculty position. I'm so glad they asked me."

She'll be teaching part time in the family and community health classes.

Rainer is one of the three first graduates of the Fuld Fellowship program at Emory's nursing school. The program is open to students with other degrees who want to become nursing leaders and serve vulnerable populations.

Social responsibility is at the heart of the program.

There are 16 students participating through the Emory Nursing Segue Program, a combined degree option for non-nurses.

Rainer came to the program with degrees in microbiology and Spanish from Auburn University. Working with nurses in rural clinics in Alabama as a student interpreter inspired Rainer to become a nurse.

"I think it's great that people are coming to nursing from such diverse backgrounds," she said.

"I learned so much through Emory's service learning programs, going to Jamaica on alternative spring break and working with the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina. My goal is to keep learning and strengthening nursing as a profession."

Being chosen as a Fuld Fellow was a gift, Rainer said. Not only does a $5 million endowment from the Helene Fuld Health Trust pay for tuition costs, but Fuld students are given additional learning opportunities outside the classroom.

"We had monthly meetings and access to so many different learning activities. We were given extra exposure to community leaders," said Fuld Fellow Emilï Toufighian, CNM, MSN, who works as a nurse-midwife in private practice.

Prior to nursing school, Toufighian held a degree in religion. A research trip to India opened her eyes to an appreciation for life's basics of having enough food and safe shelter.

"When we went into the villages and I saw the roles of mothers and wives, I wanted to empower them with health education to be the best mothers they could be," Toufighian said. "I'm passionate that children deserve the absolute strongest foundation possible. That's when I started thinking about nurse midwifery."

Toufighian is on call every other week and delivers about 25 babies a month.

"It's the hardest thing I've ever done but [it's] awesome, " she said. "Pregnancy is such a crucial time for women. I want to give them positive feelings so that the experience becomes a building block that brings the family together."

She credits the Fuld Fellowship program with showing her how.

"This program exposed us to examples of people making a difference in their communities," Toufighian said. "People want to help, but don't know where to start. We saw people do small things, start grassroots efforts that made a difference. I wouldn't have run across those opportunities if it hadn't been for Fuld."

Kelly Moynes, CNM, FNP, came to the program with majors in psychology and Japanese. She taught English in Japan and India before taking a job as a research assistant in psychiatry at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.

"I was so impressed by the nurses that cared for our patients that I knew I wanted to develop that deep caringing that seemed the domain of nursing," said Moynes, now a staff nurse at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta.

As a nursemidwife, Moynes hopes to improve the infant mortality rate for African- American babies, which is twice that of white babies.

"That is completely unacceptable," Moynes said. "Everyone has the right to be healthy, but there is a huge gap in health care between the African-American and white communities. I plan to devote my life to helping to change that."

"We're all so different, but the bonds forged within the Fuld group are strong and we'll carry them into the community," Rainer said. "We all look at nursing from the aspects of social responsibility and leadership. That will frame our nursing careers."