Schools w/ Global Medicine Perspective

[leric90]

Hey Guys! Just wanted to say I love studentdoctor and I spend way too much time on this forum for my own good.

The question I wanted to ask was regarding global medicine.
I will be applying to many schools this year and would like to hear your advice/suggestions on which programs that have a global medicine focus.

A little about me: I took a year break from my undergraduate studies to go serve in medical missions for about 10 months in a impoverished area in a foreign country. After this experience, I am definitely very interested in this kind of medicine as a career goal and pursuit of my own passion.

So far I know about Brown (alpert) and USC (keck) having incorporated global medicine perspectives. Which other schools should I look into?


Thanks a bunch!

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[leric90]

anyone have any suggestions? bump..

 

[candbgirl]

I think I read that the University of Illinois has a global health program. You might want to check that out. I do know that OOS tuition is ghastly high so ...

 

[Nymphicus]

The more resources, money, and networking a school has, the greater it's global health influence and focus tend to be.

Private schools also generally have more resources devoted to global health.

Here are a couple of examples I found from a quick google search--I'm sure there's many more.

http://pritzker.uchicago.edu/current/students/gmsp/
http://www.mssm.edu/research/progra...th/education/training-center/medical-students
http://www.bcm.edu/medschool/internationaltrack/

 

[Fuska2012]

George Washington has an excellent global health track, and Einstein has great opportunities as well... but these days global health is getting increasingly on the radar of everyone in the health field. (Next year's annual meeting theme for the american public health association is "Think Global Act Local") Sooo pretty much you can learn more about global health at any school you go into which is encouraging. Some of the top top schools are really well known for their global health programs obviously ...harvard, yale, columbia, cornell etc....they have a lot of funding and opportunities.

But honestly if this is your interest, I feel like you can seek out summer opportunities and international electives through any medical institution. You might have to put in a bit more effort to design a project and get funding at some places... but with some willpower it can happen 🙂 some schools do offer more classes, seminars, etc. MSAR lists the percent of students participating in global health programs at each school so that is a great tool...I'd also check out the websites at your top choices to see what options they have. Many have an entire office and contact info for you to learn more about their global health programs.

Good luck! I have a strong interest in global health as well 😀

 

[Propylene]

Einstein, Yale and UCLA also have strong programs for global health.

 

[leric90]

Wow this is great stuff

How about schools that have a global medicine attribute in their medical track? Instead of schools partnering up with their public health divisions - Since many schools have mph's that you can get a dual degree with the md, i was more interested in just the md

also - unfortunately i'm not competitive for any of the schools like harvard, yale or ucla but thanks anyways lol!

 

[punkedoutriffs]

Wow this is great stuff

How about schools that have a global medicine attribute in their medical track? Instead of schools partnering up with their public health divisions - Since many schools have mph's that you can get a dual degree with the md, i was more interested in just the md

also - unfortunately i'm not competitive for any of the schools like harvard, yale or ucla but thanks anyways lol!

Medical College of Wisconsin might have what you're looking for:

http://www.mcw.edu/medicalschool/Curriculum/ScholarlyPathways/GlobalHealth.htm

 

[leric90]

Medical College of Wisconsin might have what you're looking for:

http://www.mcw.edu/medicalschool/Curriculum/ScholarlyPathways/GlobalHealth.htm

that program looks great, after a little bit of more research ill probably apply there!

any more suggestions guys 🙂 thanks, im getting a lot of love from you guys

 

[Daiphon]

I think I read that the University of Illinois has a global health program. You might want to check that out. I do know that OOS tuition is ghastly high so ...

Yep, we do. Good program, too, and a part of the Center for Global Health that's run by one of the EM faculty - Tim Erickson. Lots of institutional and academic support for the program.

http://www.medicine.uic.edu/cms/one.aspx?portalId=443021&pageId=13862705

Cheers!
-d

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[leric90]

Wow - I'm a instater so that would be awesome! Not sure if I'll get in, do you know if University of Illinois College of Medicine looks at ec's 🙂 My gpa isn't the best, my MCAT is fairly competitive though and I think I have some awesome perspective/experiences collected in my last couple years that relate with global medicine!

 

[Daiphon]

Wow - I'm a instater so that would be awesome! Not sure if I'll get in, do you know if University of Illinois College of Medicine looks at ec's 🙂 My gpa isn't the best, my MCAT is fairly competitive though and I think I have some awesome perspective/experiences collected in my last couple years that relate with global medicine!

They do look at ECs, but to what extent and to what effect I couldn't say as I'm not on the AdCom...

Hopefully you mentioned somewhere in your PS that global health is a potential career avenue for you & your interests... that may help.

-d

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[peregrinusOD]

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[peregrinusOD]

opps - duplicate post

 

[leric90]

Medical College of Wisconsin might have what you're looking for:

http://www.mcw.edu/medicalschool/Curriculum/ScholarlyPathways/GlobalHealth.htm

So I did some research into these program before applying. I spent a few years in global health before deciding on med school and i know that that's exactly what I wanted to do. In no particular order, these were the programs I found most interesting:

UCSF - one of the best global health program out there, they have a MSc in Global Health Sciences that was highly recommended to me by a former graduate
Harvard - Global Health Institute - always the best at everything...
Pittsburgh - Center for Global Health
Tulane - AMAZING tropical medicine program with the school of public health
UCSD - Global Health Initiative - Center for Global Justice
Georgetown - O'Neill Institute (global health policy center at the law school)
MSSM - lots of fellowship opportunities in GH
Miami - Global Institute
Emory - Global Health Institute (also, the Hubert Department of Global Health at the SPH)
Case Western - Center for Global Health and Diseases
Michigan - Global REACH
Illinois - Center for Global Health
Tufts - Global Health program

As you see, the best global health programs are clustered at the more competitive schools. However, if you just want international exposure during med school, it seems most schools offer multiple electives in the developing world.

wow great list - obviously i'm not applying to harvard, michigan or ucsd because of the competitive nature of the program but just in general, are some schools more willing to accept students who are interested in serving underserved populations around the world???

 

[leric90]

wow great list - obviously i'm not applying to harvard, michigan or ucsd because of the competitive nature of the program but just in general, are some schools more willing to accept students who are interested in serving underserved populations around the world???

bumping! thanks for all the help so far guys 🙂 im not going to apply to schools like harvard or ucsf because im not getting in 🙂

 

[kickster]

Wright State has what seems to be a great global health program and a unique dual-degree program, was very impressed when I interviewed.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

Over on the DO side, VCOM loves international medicine. You can tell just from the break room tables at the Carolina campus. They have a DO/MPH dual degree program if you're interested in public health and they do lots of international mission trips with their students.

 

[Funke]

Hey, I asked this on another forum and didn't get much. I love international work, but I really don't know much about global medicine and the opportunities. What do careers in global medicine look like? What do you guys wanna do after getting out of a global medicine program?

 

[leric90]

Hey, I asked this on another forum and didn't get much. I love international work, but I really don't know much about global medicine and the opportunities. What do careers in global medicine look like? What do you guys wanna do after getting out of a global medicine program?

For me, I took a year off and was part of a medical team visiting areas without any money, facilities or access whether it be the areas are impoverished or extremely native and isolated.

I want to practice medicine in the states however want to be part of global medicine as well, what that may look like is something like practicing x months in the year and spending y time over in impoverished areas. Eventually I would like to become a full time physician in those areas around the world.

 

[CholeCystems]

Creighton being a Jesuit school places an emphasis on service to others so im sure they value community service. They have a great global health program, Project Cura that is student run.

 

[Shenanigan]

Jefferson. I met a bunch of students who have volunteered in Africa and they have a program in the DR. They also have the largest student run clinic. Yes that isn't global health, but it will acquaint you with poverty and some health issues that developing countries have.

Loyola Stritch, and Creighton as previously mentioned. Loyola especially seems to be very much involved in social justice and global health initiatives. I just wish they'd give me some love with a II. Chicago is a great place.

 

[red7]

Dartmouth students also have opportunities to do international projects. I think quite a lot of them (relative to the small class size) go abroad in the summer after M1, for example. There are also faculty members there who have connections to the big northeastern schools, like Harvard, so you may be able to score an introduction.

Two things to keep in mind:

1. Where exactly do you want to work? Although global health is popular in academia right now, it's still a pretty small field and is all about knowing the right people. So if you really want to work in Western China, but your school's renowned international medicine partnerships are all in East Africa, you may not be at any great advantage over a student at a school that doesn't have a global health track. You'll still have to find the right people and try to make your own connections. If you don't really know yet, then at least investigating the projects at different schools will give you an idea of where people go, and whether you see yourself there. A lot of people get to the field and realize that living outside North America/Western Europe/etc. is really not for them.

2. What type of work do you want to do in your career, and do the current faculty projects at this institution match up with that? e.g. If you're really set on investigating new HIV drugs, but all the projects at School X are more about community building/public health, then you may be disappointed or feel like you wasted your time doing something that you're not going to pursue in the future. The other great thing about knowing specifics like exactly what projects you're interested in is that when you're filling in secondaries and answering all of those "Why our school?" questions at interviews, you'll have a specific and unique answer that goes beyond the "patient-centered," "team based" generics that pretty much apply to every school.

Probably the best thing to do if you're not really sure about the answers to these questions is to go to a school with a lot of funding for research, and a large/diverse global health program. Unfortunately, these generally tend to be places like Harvard, Hopkins, etc. but I think the suggestions presented by others in this thread will give you a lot to go on.

 

[red7]

Eventually I would like to become a full time physician in those areas around the world.

If you mean that you want to become a local physician in another country, you should look up the licensing requirements in each place you're interested in. Usually it's not much more than taking a couple of exams (similar to USMLE) and maybe passing under clinical observation, but it's best to know ahead of time. If you want to become a specialist, you should make sure that your American training will be recognized there.

In some places, it is exceedingly difficult for a foreign physician to work full-time because there is basically no pathway that leads to full-time licensing for foreign doctors. Many American doctors who work abroad function under a sort of grey area because they are often volunteers who don't seek a full-time career, and their organization may help them with some sort of temporary permit.

 

[leric90]

Dartmouth students also have opportunities to do international projects. I think quite a lot of them (relative to the small class size) go abroad in the summer after M1, for example. There are also faculty members there who have connections to the big northeastern schools, like Harvard, so you may be able to score an introduction.

Two things to keep in mind:

1. Where exactly do you want to work? Although global health is popular in academia right now, it's still a pretty small field and is all about knowing the right people. So if you really want to work in Western China, but your school's renowned international medicine partnerships are all in East Africa, you may not be at any great advantage over a student at a school that doesn't have a global health track. You'll still have to find the right people and try to make your own connections. If you don't really know yet, then at least investigating the projects at different schools will give you an idea of where people go, and whether you see yourself there. A lot of people get to the field and realize that living outside North America/Western Europe/etc. is really not for them.

2. What type of work do you want to do in your career, and do the current faculty projects at this institution match up with that? e.g. If you're really set on investigating new HIV drugs, but all the projects at School X are more about community building/public health, then you may be disappointed or feel like you wasted your time doing something that you're not going to pursue in the future. The other great thing about knowing specifics like exactly what projects you're interested in is that when you're filling in secondaries and answering all of those "Why our school?" questions at interviews, you'll have a specific and unique answer that goes beyond the "patient-centered," "team based" generics that pretty much apply to every school.

Probably the best thing to do if you're not really sure about the answers to these questions is to go to a school with a lot of funding for research, and a large/diverse global health program. Unfortunately, these generally tend to be places like Harvard, Hopkins, etc. but I think the suggestions presented by others in this thread will give you a lot to go on.

Of course I'm not sure what the future holds for me but I am open to underserved medicine. When I meant full time, I meant something like doctors without borders are some other ngo.

The program at dartmouth looks awesome, their partnership with tanzania is something I would definitely be interested in. By no means, am I partial to one underserved area over the other.

And for 2. Definitely I do agree with you that it does help when it comes to filling out secondaries. For the kind of work I want to do in my career, I have no idea because I'm interested in so many things (minus psychiatry, ob/gyn, etc) Also I'm pretty excited by how genetics is becoming a big part of these underserved areas - we could probably go into this forever haha

 

[BecksTriad]

GW has a Global Health Track and a lot of opportunities to do an international rotation abroad

 

[red7]

Of course I'm not sure what the future holds for me but I am open to underserved medicine. When I meant full time, I meant something like doctors without borders are some other ngo.

The program at dartmouth looks awesome, their partnership with tanzania is something I would definitely be interested in. By no means, am I partial to one underserved area over the other.

And for 2. Definitely I do agree with you that it does help when it comes to filling out secondaries. For the kind of work I want to do in my career, I have no idea because I'm interested in so many things (minus psychiatry, ob/gyn, etc) Also I'm pretty excited by how genetics is becoming a big part of these underserved areas - we could probably go into this forever haha

Yeah so let's take Doctors Without Borders for example - MSF is exclusively a disaster response organization that doesn't do any type of long term development and doesn't form local partnerships in the way that many contemporary global health initiatives do. So if you go to a school that does all community participatory research, it's going to be completely different and not especially useful for a career in disaster response.

So that's just one example. You obviously aren't going to have all the answers right now, but the more specific you can get about what exactly you want, the more it will benefit you in the long run. Being interested in "underserved medicine" means well, but you will be much better prepared if you research more into exactly what you want.

 

[leric90]

Yeah so let's take Doctors Without Borders for example - MSF is exclusively a disaster response organization that doesn't do any type of long term development and doesn't form local partnerships in the way that many contemporary global health initiatives do. So if you go to a school that does all community participatory research, it's going to be completely different and not especially useful for a career in disaster response.

So that's just one example. You obviously aren't going to have all the answers right now, but the more specific you can get about what exactly you want, the more it will benefit you in the long run. Being interested in "underserved medicine" means well, but you will be much better prepared if you research more into exactly what you want.

Yes I definitely agree with what you are saying. At this point, I'm just looking at all the different programs and global medicine tracks different schools have to offer. I mean there are so many options, and to me they all sound amazing right now - from doing something that is affiliated with academic medicine, or being part of ngo's that do short term. What I meant by long term is not necessarily being licensed in one place and moving to another country (which I might) but being involved in global medicine, msf, for the long haul.

Hope that makes some sense

 

[lowbudget]

UTMB has a great global health track and if you pair it up with doing some some rural rotations, you'll see great applications of what you can do with that knowledge stateside.