A Focus on Global Health

Fall 2020

Mini Medical School: A Focus on Global Health was designed to broaden understanding of how global health impacts local health. COVID-19 has shown that what happens in one part of the world affects communities everywhere. Session topics explored global health research, capacity building and the nuances of social responsibility.

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About Mini Medical School

Mini Medical School offers a unique glimpse into the health sciences at the University of Minnesota. Community learners with a shared interest in health embark on a journey examining the scientific foundations of health and disease. Presented using common language for ease of understanding complex topics, your guides are internationally renowned experts who are shaping the way health care is delivered locally and globally

The idea of global health may seem exciting...even adventurous. Media and the movies portray it as doctors and researchers traveling the world to tropical locations with a mission to 'save the world'. While this image has inspired generations of well-intentioned global health practitioners to take up the mantle and pursue work in global health, it has also created for-profit industries and interventions that can cause more harm than good. The multi-billion dollar business of voluntourism is just that––a business––and one that profits off well-meaninged do-gooders at the expense of the communities they claim to help. Negative impacts to communities include the loss of jobs due to volunteers from the global north taking on work that could be done by paid community members, undermining of local systems and structures, the use of culturally inappropriate interventions managed without input from experienced and trusted partners, and potentially even most concerning, the medical treatment of patients in underserved communities by personnel that may not be trained or licensed to so.

Session 1 of the University of Minnesota’s Mini Medical School: A Focus on Global Health, a panel of individuals committed to social responsibility discussed the history and impacts of short-term global health interventions–– with a specific focus on medical missions. During the session, you’ll learn how and why global health interventions can be controversial or misguided, and how to evaluate important considerations when engaging with and supporting global health interventions.

Judith Lasker, PhD

Professor Emerita of Sociology and Health Medicine and Society, Lehigh University

Chairman, Medical and Surgical Skill Institute

Bruce Compton

Senior Director of Global Health, Catholic Health Association of the United States

Shailey Prasad, MD, MPH

Moderator
Executive Director, Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility; Vice-Chair for Education, Family Medicine and Community Health

The social determinants of health––the conditions in which we live, work, and play––are universal. Or global in this case. Social forces such as systemic racism, unfair economic systems, marginalization, and maldistribution of power shape access to adequate housing, employment, education, food, and water in ways that translate into the health inequities we witness in our communities, no matter where we live. Global health champions around the world work to decrease these inequities to improve the health of all—and not just around the world, but also locally. They take the frameworks of global health and apply it to a local context to improve the health of communities in Minnesota.

Session 2 of the University of Minnesota’s Mini Medical School: A Focus on Global Health, a group of global health experts working in local contexts discuss the intersection of global and local health, the social determinants of health, and global health considerations in Minnesota. During this session, you’ll learn how to engage in critical thinking on how the frameworks of global health and the social determinants of health can impact your understanding of health inequities and interventions locally in Minnesota; how to identify examples of global-local health initiatives and organizations that are working in the local Minnesota community; and how to reflect on your own personal connection to global, local, and community health.

Michael Westerhaus, MD, MA

Assistant Professor, Global Medicine

Roli Dwivedi, MD

Assistant Professor, Family Medicine and Community Health; Chief Clinical Officer, Community-University Health Care Center

Maria Veronica Svetaz, MD, MPH

Faculty Family Practice and Adolescent Health Boarded Physician, Hennepin County Medical Center

Shailey Prasad, MD, MPH

Moderator
Executive Director, Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility; Vice-Chair for Education, Family Medicine and Community Health

As we saw the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, infectious diseases can easily and rapidly spread across cities, countries, and continents. Even before the pandemic, global health researchers and practitioners have explored how potential solutions to health challenges in other parts of the world can also solve challenges within our own backyard. And in some cases, the research to solve a health issue in Minnesota can actually only be conducted in other parts of the world. So how can we successfully conduct this type of research? The key to our global health research at the University of Minnesota is mutually-beneficial and sustainable partnerships.

Session 3 of the University of Minnesota’s Mini Medical School: A Focus on Global Health, a group of global health experts working around the world discuss the importance of partnership building in global health research, and the value and impact of global health research. During this session, you’ll learn how to explain the ways in which global health research can impact local health outcomes in the US, and how the University of Minnesota’s support for global health research around the world comes back to impact Minnesota.

David Boulware, MD, MPH

Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine, Medical School

Kumi Smith, PhD

Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health

George Omondi Paul, MS

Post-Doctoral Associate, Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine

Montserrat Torremorell, DVM, PhD

Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine

Molly McCoy

Content Lead
CGHSR Global Research and Training Coordinator

A Focus on Global Health

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