Global Health & Disparities Path of Excellence The Global Health & Disparities (GHD) Path of Excellence was the first co-curricular program offered to UMMS students, beginning with the class that will graduate in 2015. Directed by Brent Williams, MD, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, and guided by a faculty steering committee, GHD provides students an opportunity to integrate foundational, investigative, and experiential learning around domestic and global health disparities in order to become agents of sustainable change. As an optional, co-curricular activity, GHD complements and runs alongside the standard curriculum. It operates through several discrete structured learning experiences, longitudinal faculty advising, and a capstone field project. GHD offers UMMS students the opportunity to gain practical experience in an underserved setting in the United States or a developing country. These opportunities generally take place after the M1 year or during the M4 year as a clinical elective. As Global REACH helps to facilitate the international activities of UMMS constituents, GHD and Global REACH have become natural partners in facilitating UMMS student activities related to health equity here and abroad.
Jonathan Waldmann (left) and Gregory Powell volunteer at the Hospital San Gabriel Diabetes Health Fair, La Paz, Bolivia
Students who successfully complete the GHD path receive special recognition in their Dean’s letter at graduation, which includes a description of the tasks and competencies of the GHD path.
Global Health & Disparities Path of Excellence: Class of 2016 Twenty-nine M1 students made up the inaugural class (2015) of the Medical School’s Global Health and Disparities Path of Excellence in 2011, with two-thirds of the group chosing an international health disparities summer project. In 2012-13, 37 M1s joined the GHD community; a growth of more than 20% over the 2011-12 numbers. Twenty-five of those M1 students participated in 2013 international summer experiences (denoted by an*). Julie Blaszczak Emily Chen* Jose Davila* Stephanie Eldred Elizabeth Feenstra* LeeAnne Flygt* Lindsey Gakenheimer Jennifer Geiger* Elise Gelston* Paula Goldman* Christopher Grondin* Hussein Hamid
Hong-Gam Le* Joan Leavens* Tammy Lin* Janet Ma Katharine McDonald* Kailyn Meekhof Rula Mualla Rashmi Patil* Caitlin Peirce Daniel Pepper* Gregory Powell* Erica Prochaska*
Elyse Reamer Cristina Sarmiento Bella Shah* Samuel Shopinski* Eytan Shtull-Leber John Snider* Chelsea Tafoya* Matthew Tafoya* Jonathan Waldmann* Steven Weinberg* Ariana Wilkinson* Leigha Winters* Katelin Zahn
Steven Weinberg teaches a young patient how to listen to heart sounds during his summer experience through the St. Paul Medical School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
“Our Global Health & Disparities Path of Excellence is unique because of its focus on health equities — in underserved communities in the US as well as abroad.” – Dr. Joseph Kolars, Senior Associate Dean for Education and Global Initiatives
globalreach.med.umich.edu
Page 23