Everything you need to get involved in global health
Michele Barry, MD, Stanford’s senior associate dean for global health, created the residency track to give medical residents an understanding of overarching issues in global health while also showing them the individual contributions they could make to achieve health equity.
Residents gain robust clinical experience while rotating through the Internal Medicine departments of our 3-hospital system, and by participating in a 4-week Social Medicine rotation, where global health residents pack supplies into a backpack and head into the community to provide care for the homeless population of Santa Clara County. Global Health residents also have dedicated time for research with underserved populations around the world. Each resident, depending on individual interests and goals, spends six weeks overseas during their second year and as many as 12 weeks overseas during their third year caring for patients, conducting research, and building international partnerships that will continue to develop throughout their careers.
While the track can be customized to fit individual goals, all the residents finish with common experiences. Each track resident participates in a two-day intensive research retreat, led by Stanford Global Health Director of Research Dr. Stephen Luby, former Director of the Centre for Communicable Diseases at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh. Dr. Luby assists the residents as they develop their research proposals and prepare for challenges that arise in countries with unstable power grids or precarious political situations.
During their intern year, Global Health residents also participate in a two-week intensive global health elective directed by Dr. Cybele Renault, entitled “Global Health: Beyond Diseases and International Organizations,” during which track residents learn practical skills while simultaneously considering ethical issues in providing clinical service and doing research in low-resource settings, and while incorporating public health principles into their work in low-resource settings.
At our monthly Global Health / Underserved Patient Population Pathway of Distinction (POD) meetings, residents meet experts from across Stanford’s campus, all of whom are passionate about improving care for vulnerable patient populations domestically and/or overseas. Our POD meetings offer an opportunity for our residents to meet potential mentors with similar interests, and to learn about potential career paths as they think about building their careers caring for vulnerable patient populations.
“Stanford has a culture of collaboration, and the School of Medicine is integrated into Stanford’s campus,” Renault said. “Michele Barry and I look at the many resources that Stanford has to offer across disciplines, and we ask how we can best support each Global Health Track resident based on their individual interests. We aspire to give our residents a range of skills that will enable them to launch their career in global health at the end of their residency.”
The Stanford Global Scholars Program supports residents or fellows who are committed to working overseas in low technology settings. The Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health provides funding for trainees who will be an asset to the staff at the receiving location and support or add to the services provided. Global Scholars are not mere observers in the host location.
The Center for Innovation in Global Health brings together residency program leaders focused on global health education through the Program Leadership Council. The Council meets twice each year to provide updates about current global health education offerings, to share resources, and to identify potential collaborations.
The Stanford/Yale Johnson & Johnson Global Health Scholars Program annually selects up to 40 physicians during their residencies and career physicians for six-week rotations at one of our mentored sites outside the US. Rotations are largely directed at clinical experiences, service and teaching. The funded Stanford/Yale Johnson & Johnson Global Health Scholars will receive a travel award ranging from $3,000 – $3,500 based on their site assignment.
The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation created this scholarship for Stanford School of Medicine pediatric trainees and clinical medical students who are committed to improving the quality of life for children around the world.. Launched in 2009, the program has sent more than 60 physicians and trainees overseas to provide clinical care to children in low- and middle-income settings. Drs. Desiree LaBeaud and Clea Sarnquist direct this program.
The Global Health Equity Scholar Fellowship is a 12-month mentored research training program for post-doctoral fellows, upper-level PhD students and professional school (MD, DVM, DrPH, PharmD) students. Part of the Global Health Program for Fellows and Scholars sponsored by the Fogarty International Center (FIC), the GHES program brings together a consortium that includes Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, Florida International University and Yale University.
A two-day seminar for physician residents, fellows and medical students interested in developing research skills applicable to global health. Students and trainees increase knowledge on key issues in research proposal development, develop research interests into tractable research questions and acquire the tools to develop global health research proposals.
The Stanford Global Health Club hosts a monthly seminar series, where members of the Stanford community can come together to learn, share, and collaborate on approaches to improve global health. Organized by Stanford PhD students and postdocs, the seminars are open to attendees of all levels of experience and disciplines, including medicine, anthropology, biology, economics, law, ethics, and engineering.