AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO WINTER 2017 1
letter from the co-pres
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CONTENTS 2
summers in health
autumn events in review
team updates p. 6
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winter events in review p. 10 3
AN INTRODUCTION FROM OUR CO-PRESIDENTS Dear friends of GlobeMed, Happy New Years from GlobeMed at the University of Chicago! We are excited to bring to you our newsletter for Winter 2017, which is packed with information on what we have been working on so far and what we are hoping to accomplish this academic year. For those of you less familiar with us, we’re a global health organization run completely by undergraduates at the University of Chicago. We are 1 of 56 college chapters in the GlobeMed network, each of which is partnered with local grassroots organizations combatting global health inequities around the world. Through these partnerships, GlobeMed chapters provide financial support, access to their institutional network and resources, and assistance in strategic planning and organizational activities, including project development, capacity building, and grant writing. Our chapter specifically has been partnered for the past seven years with ASPAT-Peru, a community-based health NGO in Lima working to eradicate tuberculosis (TB). In Peru, TB is a disease that disproportionately affects the poor. Those afflicted face heavy stigma from society, friends, and even family. And while treatment is provided for free by the Peruvian government, many patients fail to complete it for fear of loss of income (from discriminatory employment practices) and social stigma. In short, TB derails lives. ASPAT-Peru seeks to address these issues by educating Peruvians on TB treatment and prevention, counseling patients through the treatment process, and advocating for patients’ rights through collaboration with the Peruvian government. In the 2015-16 academic year, we’re proud to have raised $12,000 USD, well over our annual fundraising goal of $10,000, to meet a variety of ASPAT’s organizational needs. Our funding had two main objectives: (1) to sustain the core programs and overhead costs of the organization and (2) to aid ASPAT’s efforts in developing and executing its strategic and fundraising plans for the coming years. Our support enabled ASPAT to strengthen and amplify the impact of its charlas educativas program (education and counselling sessions for TB patients), health center monitoring, and advocacy initiatives. Additionally, our Global Partnerships team helped to prepare ASPAT’s biometric patient tracking system, SisBioTB, for scale-up, following the final phase of its pilot program, and to develop the foundation for a new income-generating wing of ASPAT called Movimuestras. The Movimuestras program aims to sustain ASPAT’s activities going forward through the provision of biological sample transportation services to public health centers and testing laboratories. We’re also proud to have secured ASPAT a partnership with the Metcalf Internships office at the University of Chicago, sending a Metcalf intern to work with ASPAT over summer 2016. In September 2016, our chapter sent five members (Richard Wu, Shamini Nair, Isabella Pan, Ayling Dominguez, and Aliya Moreira) to spend four weeks working with ASPAT on our annual Grassroots On-site Work (GROW) Internship. The ultimate goal of every GlobeMed partnership is to facilitate the partner organization’s growth to the point of selfsustainability, where they are no longer in need of the chapter’s funding or direct team support. Having reached the later stages of our partnership with ASPAT, the goal of our annual Grassroots On-site Work (GROW) Internship was to work together with ASPAT leadership to determine the graduation potential of our partnership and to identify methods by which our chapter can facilitate the achievement of their vision going forward.
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Together, we determined that while ASPAT had reached a state of relative financial stability, they wanted to expand the reach and scale of their work. During the internship, the GROW interns assisted in grant application writing and translations, set up a system of Monitoring & Evaluation for the charlas educativas core program, conducted interviews and filmed ASPAT’s daily activities for a promotional video about the organization, and developed a strategic plan for ASPAT’s social media presence and reach. Throughout the 2016-2017 academic year, GlobeMed will continue to fully sustain ASPAT’s core programs and overhead costs ($6,000) in order to allow for a focus on expansion, and will work with ASPAT to fortify the organization’s operational capability and to apply for a wide range of larger-scale grants. We are excited to announce that GlobeMed at the University of Chicago and ASPAT-PERU’s partnership has reached its full graduation potential. The graduation of our partnership will come into effect at the end of this academic year. While it marks the end of our funding and direct team support for ASPAT’s operations, graduation also recognizes the remarkable achievements of the organization’s dedicated team and the power of its people-centered mission. ASPAT is and will continue to be the leader in the fight against tuberculosis and for a better Peru. We look forward to the next phase of our participation in ASPAT’s unyielding advancement towards “a future without tuberculosis.” With this decision comes a new and exciting time for our chapter. As of January 2017, our chapter has begun the search for our next global partner organization, and we look forward to where this process will take us. In addition, this year marks a large growth in the scope of our activities as a GlobeMed chapter. This fall, we saw record interest in GlobeMed within the campus community, and we welcomed 29 new members into our chapter—leaving us with over 60 members and the biggest chapter that GlobeMed at UChicago has ever had. Moving forward, our internal goal for this year is to strive toward building a cohesive chapter identity and to really make GlobeMed a community where members can learn, connect, and build together. Our Global Health University (ghU) and Community Building teams are working hard to develop general meeting curricula that are not only engaging but also enriching. Now more than ever, we are taking a strategic approach to fundraising: Campaigns, Finances, and Communications work closely to develop, market, and implement successful fundraising efforts. With the success and streamlining of our fundraising efforts, this year we have additionally expanded upon our engagement with the campus community through a wider array of educational and awareness-focused events, including an Interactive Gallery Showcase focused on the Patient Perspective of TB in Peru, academic Lunch & Learn panels with notable faculty, a Global Getdown night on interdisciplinary strategies in global health, involvement in the WHO’s “Lets Talk” program on Depression, and in bringing the AIDS Quilt to campus to raise awareness about the realities of the disease and stigma within the United States. On that note, we are proud to announce that this academic year marks the start of our partnership with Hope Works, our chapter’s first local partner. Hope Works, located a few blocks from the University of Chicago in Woodlawn, works with people one-on-one to design specific solutions to long-term issues of unemployment. Our chapter is committed to looking at global health holistically, and to address disparities not only across the globe, but also the inequity in our own local communities and neighborhoods. We cannot be more excited to learn from Hope Works and to begin breaking down the barriers that separate our campus and the rest of our community.
Sincerely, Aliya Moreira Internal Co-President Nick Hadjimichael External Co-President 5
TEAM DIRECTOR UPDATES SHAMINI NAIR - COMMUNICATIONS This has been an exciting year for the Communications Team. Our team expanded this year in size and took on a variety of new projects. Each of these projects have targeted building a distinct on-campus identity for GlobeMed as an organization. These projects have included a GlobeMed photoshoot, labels sharing the scope of GlobeMed’s work being attached to clothes sold during Rummage sale, and marketing Global Getdown through partnerships with various on-campus cafes. The Communications team is also in the process of creating a film about our partner, ASPAT.
SARAH NAKASONE - LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS
During its inaugural year, the Local Partnerships team focused on building trust between the chapter and its new partner, Hope Works. Projects ranged from capacity building (through grant writing and resource vetting for clients) to direct engagement (by volunteering at Hope Works’ annual gala and multiple workshops). Team members also had the opportunity to design their own projects in hope of connecting the broader chapter with health issues on the Southside of Chicago. Project included planning a community event showcasing a panel of the AIDS quilt, designing a workshop for volunteers at Hope Works on connecting clients with mental health services, and collaborating with the Center for Global Health on a mental health awareness day.
RICHARD WU - GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS It’s been a busy but exciting quarter for Global Partnerships. We dived into Capstone projects for the three programs our international partner ASPAT-PERU has expressed long-term interest and commitment to. These Capstones are cumulations of our key findings and recommendations, specifically those for measurement and evaluation (M&E), project development, and strategic planning. The projects Desayunos and Movimuestras are on the drafting boarding, whereas the program Charlas, a psychosocial support group to mitigate stigma and facilitate education, is looking to scale both impact and breadth. In addition to our Capstones, Global Partnerships is conducting a global health crisis simulation, where we’ll design sustainable and strategic health solutions and improve our understanding of the implications of multinational cooperation.
GRACE LU & CATALINA RAGGI - GHU
This quarter GHU focused on how issues affect certain communities beyond just the health issues with a particular emphasis on environmental topics. Topics covered include malaria, food dessert, the role of foreign aid in developing countries, and mental health. GHU is currently trying to introduce more discussion based presentations during general meetings. This year, the GHU team started a GlobeMed library that includes the GHU lectures from the fall and winter quarters as well as additional health-related documents. Other projects include planning an on-campus event showcasing a panel of the AIDS Quilt to promote HIV/ AIDS awareness within the UChicago community.
STRATTON TOLMIE - CAMPAIGNS
Campaigns had had one of its most exciting years yet. With fun nights in chinatown with its 6 new members, Campaigns has been working together to create the best events UChicago has seen to date. The ongoing search for a new partner has given Campaigns the opportunity to forward GlobeMed’s advocacy initiatives with new campaigns such as the Gallery Event. The first annual Gallery Event was a huge success, allowing the University of Chicago chapter to finally showcase the amazing work it has been doing with APSAT over the past few years. Campaigns is also currently working on Global Getdown for this Winter quarter with 6 exciting speakers coming this year. Other successful campaigns from the past two quarters include, rummage sale, bubble tea, bar night, and our new hot apple cider sale.
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ISABELLA PAN - COMMUNITY BUILDING
With 60 members in the GlobeMed chapter this year, the Community Building team has been hard at work to help members develop close bonds with one another! We have paired each GlobeMed member with a special pareja - a fellow GlobeMedder - with whom they share similar academic or career interests, so that members are fostering close relationships with one another both during and outside of general meetings! Each quarter, Community Building also puts on a party for members to socialize with one another in a relaxed setting outside of general meetings! This quarter’s theme was Winter Wonderland, complete with free food and great conversations in a wintery background. Community Building has also worked to maximize members’ access to university and community resources through distributing a weekly digest with various events, courses and opportunities applicable to GlobeMed members.
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AUTUMN
Bubble Tea Every quarter, GlobeMed hosts its ever-popular Bubble Tea Sale on campus. Flavors like taro, peach, and green tea consistently sell out at these sales!
EVENTS IN REVIEW
rummage sale
Hopeworks gala GlobeMed attended the gala in support of Hopeworks’s work to provide workforce development for the residents of Woodlawn. The event began with a brief history of Woodlawn and the role of HopeWorks since its inception, followed by guest speakers who spoke to their sense of community culture. The collaboration at the gala was a great start to the multi-year partnership between the University of Chicago’s GlobeMed chapter and HopeWorks.
GlobeMed’s biannual Rummage Sale is one of the chapter’s most successful fundraising events year after year. After collecting donations from students and local thrift shops, GlobeMed sells these items back to the campus community at a pop-up thrift store, with all proceeds directly benefitting ASPAT-Peru. Finding an amazing new piece for your wardrobe is always easy at this event!
princeton review classes This fall, GlobeMed was pleased to offer a free MCAT Practice Test as well as an MCAT Strategy Session to the university community. By partnering with the Princeton Review, GlobeMed hopes to help future doctors prepare for the MCAT.
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patient perspectives
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A gallery event titled “Patient Perspectives: A Photo Journey of Tuberculosis in Peru” featured photos and stories of Peruvian people personally affected by tuberculosis. This moving photo journey brought light to the daily struggles as well as the strength and determination of those affected by the disease. Overall, it was a great way to share the motivations behind GlobeMed’s fundraising efforts with the University of Chicago community and bring more attention to the disease.
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WINTER
health week During UChicago Health Week, we hosted a Lunch and Learn with Dr. David Meltzer where anyone on campus could come and learn about his work on The Comprehensive Care, Community and Culture Program (C4P) Study: Testing the Value of the Doctor-Patient Relationship and an Intersectoral Approach to Health over lunch.
EVENTS IN REVIEW
apple cider sale
global getdown
For the first time, GlobeMed warmed everyone up from the winter cold by hosting an apple cider sale! With complimentary cinnamon sticks, these cups of warmth welcomed students back for the start of a new quarter.
This Winter, GlobeMed hosted its annual Global Getdown themed Bridging the Gaps in Health Inequities. We enjoyed presentations on Diabetes in the South-Side of Chicago, making equity a priority in healthcare systems, the health consequences of segregation in Chicago, UNICEF’s effort to eradicate Polio, and the unique challenges presented by the Global Health issues, all over Chipotle!
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hopeworks ceramics workshop
Princeton Review MCAT test
Our local partner, Hope Works, provides an arts outreach program for high school students, and this quarter GlobeMed sent volunteers to assist the teens with a fun ceramics workshop!
Through our partnership with the Princeton Review, GlobeMed hosted both an MCAT strategy session and full length MCAT practice test free for University of Chicago students.
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DENEB ZAVALA GLOBEMED GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS PARTNERSHIPS INTERN
As a committed GlobeMed first year, the summer of 2016 was fundamental in my growth as a GlobeMed leader.The idea to join GlobeMed’s Headquarters (HQ) for the summer all began when my plans to go on our chapter’s GROW trip fell through. Despite this change in plans, I was still determined to find a way to support my team as they embarked on such a rewarding opportunity with our partner, ASPAT-Peru. I ended up working as a Partnerships Intern at GlobeMed HQ where I directly collaborated with GlobeMed’s national Director of Partnerships. I soon found myself working hard to learn the names of GlobeMed’s 7 HQ directors, 8 interns from Spelman College, Boston University, Tufts, and USC, as well as over 100 GROW interns from all 55 GlobeMed chapters that went abroad over the summer. Nonetheless, interning with GlobeMed HQ was the best decision I could have made. Coming in, I had very little expertise with how non-profits operate and what it takes to create a productive working relationship with leaders across large distances. However, with the hands-on training I received as Partnerships Intern, I was able to hone in on these skills and lead projects of my own. I engaged in partner recruitment abroad, from interviewing and scoring their applications, I soon grew comfortable interviewing potential partner non-profits, to writing blog stories about the experiences and friendships that GROW interns made in their host communities. Coincidentally, this summer marked the end of GlobeMed HQ’s former strategic plan. Thus, I dove into drafting strategic plans for the new plan complete with GROW training guides and curriculum, devising partner capacity-building workshops, as well as a framework of resources to distribute to GlobeMed chapters. Furthermore, the launch of the GlobeMed Collaboratory involved conducting a resource audit of years of HQ and chapter data, consolidating into it a cleaner format, and translating a few key documents into Spanish that are important for the on-boarding of our Latin American partners. Finally, I was able to pursue my own independent project which involved understanding the racial justice movement in Chicago by way of studying the network of NGOs and community leaders that are at the head of the movement. Working at GlobeMed HQ truly taught me the skills and mindset needed for a team of only 7 in Evanston, IL, to bring together all 60 US chapters and 60 global leaders to work toward a better future for global health. In this highly interactive and discussion-based environment where leaders together to create strategies and support the work of each branch of the network, GlobeMed is leading impactful work to improve the way that eager and intelligent students are engaging with the world. The network-wide events, GROW internships, and leadership workshops I witnessed during the summer continue to be the clearest evidence I have seen that true power lies in realizing that a mentor exists in each one of us. By listening we can continue to realize the goals of hundreds of grassroots that are working hard to improve their lives and make their communities more equitable from the bottom-up.
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AYLING DOMINGUEZ
CANCER INSTITUE OF THE CHINESE ACADEMY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH ASSISTANT//JEFF METCALF INTERN
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As part of a Jeff Metcalf internship I received this past summer, I had the chance to travel to Beijing and help carry out clinical cancer research at the Cancer Institute of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CICAMS). I was first interested in the program because almost all of my research experience is clinically-based. In addition, this Metcalf internship was situated abroad, and I had just become interested in the field of global health, so I found this opportunity to be a perfect match. Moreover, its description was definitely enticing, filled with big researcher names, talk of site visits, and scientific journals. Once I accepted the internship, I instantly knew it was the right choice; Ph.D. and graduate students in the laboratory began emailing me telling me how excited they were to work with me (this would only be the internship’s second year), and telling me about all the things the previous year’s interns had done (Kat from GlobeMed was actually an intern the previous year!). Fast forward through spring quarter — Upon arriving, we had a running start and I was in the laboratory the same day my plane touched down. My internship duties were split between helping with wet lab research, which in our cervical cancer epidemiology department meant making slides from pap smear samples and observing them under the microscope to determine correlations between HPV and cervical cancer incidence, and helping with more administrative aspects of clinical research by applying to grants and developing manuscripts. The internship also gave me the opportunity to tag along with the Ph.D. and graduate students whenever they went on site visits to do field work, which was the most eye-opening and informative aspect of the internship for me. It allowed me to see global health in terms of its real world effects and consequences. I also greatly valued the motivation and passion of the graduate students and their determination to spread knowledge of HPV prevention, cervical cancer, and reproductive health in general. Before this internship, I knew very little about effective methods for combating the incidence of a disease that affects a major portion of the population, but I walked out of the internship with greater knowledge amassed from the many presentations at local clinics (though I couldn’t understand Mandarin). I highly value this experience for introducing me to students, doctors, researchers, and others who hold global health in such high regard as I do, collaborating with American students so that we may take this experience back to the United States and incorporate it into our future studies and careers. Furthermore, being able to see the conditions of health clinics in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, remote, urban areas of China, areas tourists normally wouldn’t visit, has opened my eyes to the differences and deficiencies in healthcare around the world. Thanks to this fellowship, I can now compare the health systems of China to the United States with a fairly thorough understanding. If my future career involves addressing doctor shortages in underprivileged hospitals, I know I will refer back to my time visiting the Women & Children’s Clinic in Ordos where I learned the reasons why doctors from big cities don’t make it all the way out to rural towns where they’re needed the most. This fellowship took me above and beyond learning lab practices and techniques, and showed me global health out in the real world. 15
SHEREEN AL-SAWWAF THE HEALTH WAGON NON-CLINICAL INTERN
The healthcare system in America has long been a source of contention. While Obamacare aimed to provide healthcare insurance to the uninsured, a gap still exists between Americans who can and cannot afford health insurance.This gap is most visible in the rural Appalachian Mountains of Virginia where 12.5% of Virginians over the age of 65 lack health insurance. These individuals work, making enough money to sustain themselves above the poverty line but not enough to purchase private healthcare. However, because they work, they are also disqualified from receiving Obamacare. Thus, Virginians who find themselves within this gap often go without seeing a doctor until it is too late. The Health Wagon of Wise, VA is a mobile health clinic providing healthcare to people living in that gap—the underserved and uninsured in rural Virginia. Over the summer, I had the opportunity to visit and work with the Health Wagon where I was able to get a sense of the current healthcare climate of the United States. Accompanying me were three primary care doctors, two administrators, and a handful of volunteers. Having grown up in the Northeast, life below the Mason-Dixon line was always of mystery and intrigue. I first became acquainted with the Health Wagon’s work when its two directors, Paula Hill and Teresa Tyson, were featured on CBS’ 60 Minutes a few years back. What I saw on 60 Minutes seemed like a very different America than the one I was living in. People without insurance camped out for days to see doctors at massive open-aired clinics where simple diagnostic tests only cost a few dollars. It was often the first time these patients had seen a doctor in years. I had no idea what to expect when I stepped out of our van.
opinions and quite liberally expressing their severe dissatisfaction with Obama and Obamacare. By my second day in Wise, I began to see some trends. Almost all patients were obese and had either diabetes, hypertension or both. Most were in pharmacy programs that provided them with free medication for their conditions. However, when those programs fell through, most patients went without their medication. These patients are in a rather helpless situation. Without health insurance, patients go years without seeing a doctor. By the time they come to the Health Wagon, their medical conditions have become quite severe, sometimes resulting in hospitalization. Because of the severity of their medical conditions, most patients need to see specialists, but because the area is so rural, the closest specialists are hours away. Paying to see these specialists is an impossible feat within itself. Our doctors were also forced into a rather helpless situation, one where I found that most of our doctors could not do much. Because our doctors were not specialists, the most they could do was to refer patients to financial aid programs at the University of Virginia’s closest hospital where they could potentially receive free or discounted care from specialists. While most of our days were spent in the clinic, we also got to experience some Virginian culture. On our last night, we went to a Bluegrass concert where we square-danced with the locals. We also hiked through the Appalachian Mountains. All of us were in awe of the natural beauty surrounding us. I had a hard time grappling how such majestic mountains could shield a population so underserved. Though I only spent a week in Wise, the experiences I had continue to provoke me. A population so in need begs the attention of lawmakers for some sort of tangible change.
While the Health Wagon has multiple mobile clinic vans, we stationed ourselves at the headquarters of the Health Wagon operation: the Smiddy Clinic. Here, the doctors on our trip followed up with patients whose diagnostic tests from the open-air clinics showed some red flags. I, along with the other volunteers, performed a multitude of tasks. We interviewed patients about their experiences with the Health Wagon and beyond, cooked healthy meals, and served as resources for information on nutritious, balanced diets. Because I am a pre-med student, the doctors also let me shadow them when they examined patients. From the start, I noticed a strong sense of pride present in most of the Virginians I met. While they may not have had much, they made do with what they had. They declined outside help, refusing to visit an emergency room if they could not pay the bills, too proud to let the Virginian government front the cost for their healthcare. I was in awe of their mental and physical perseverance. Many patients had serious medical conditions that made living everyday life quite painful, and yet they went to work every day with no complaint. All patients were open to talking to me, freely sharing their 16
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