Group of students in learning activity outside in green space

The Practice of Global Health

Author
VP Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD
World Health Day, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and celebrated on April 7 each year, reminds us that we are interconnected with the health of others around the globe. Throughout the pandemic, we have seen how connected local health is to global health.
 



The Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility (CGHSR) takes an interdisciplinary approach to global health and collaborates with health sciences schools and beyond. Social responsibility is at the heart of their approach to facilitating and supporting world-wide health through collaborative partnerships and sustainable programs in more than 37 countries. Their work focuses on health care workforce development and building capacity to ensure the health of these communities long term.

CGHSR is committed to appropriate engagement in global health by learning from and with each other. Executive Director Dr. Shailey Prasad is the lead author of the Brocher Declaration, a guide for policy of short-term global health engagements designed to reduce harm, protect patients, prioritize host communities, and address power imbalances. Along with the CGHSR team, he will offer a global health ethics course as part of the 2022 Summer Public Health Institute. CGHSR also offers Global Health Seed Grants to fund new interdisciplinary research collaborations to advance global health research, which are currently accepting applications.

CGHSR is at the forefront of a transformation of how we interact with our global neighbors, where we do not just “offer help” but create meaningful, respectful, mutually beneficial relationships and engagement.

 
Driving Innovation & Discovery

The Clinical Training Site of Excellence Program recognizes partners who have provided exceptional support for our health sciences learners. Recipients of the Clinical Training Sites of Excellence Award were recognized for their excellence in 2021 in their creativity and/or flexibility, role modeling and/or driving positive change, transparency, communication, and collaboration.

The 2021 Clinical Sites of Excellence are:
  • Allina-United Hospital
  • Hennepin Healthcare
  • Loyd's/Setzer/Hopkins Center Pharmacies
  • M Health Fairview
  • Mayo Clinic
  • Morris Nilsen Funeral Chapel
  • Open Circle
  • St. Luke's Health System
     
medical technology concept with numbers and graphs

Medical Technology Clinical Trials: Where Are We and Where Are We Going?

Clinical trials are essential for demonstrating the safety and efficacy of new medical technology, including new medical devices. This half-day forum on April 14 will explore the current state of and future trends for medical device clinical trials that are of interest to early-stage academic and industry researchers, and to product line business strategy leads at medical technology companies. Speakers will discuss remote trials, automated digital data collection, computer simulations, the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and what we learned from running trials during COVID, among other topics.
 

Advancing Interprofessional Education & Training

IPE interns

OACA Interprofessional Highlight: HealthPartners

Brandon Gilmer, BS, from the College of Pharmacy, Julie Ntegeye, BA, from the School of Public Health and, Breana Stang, BS, from the Center for Allied Health are working with HealthPartners to compile and develop resources on interprofessional education and teaming, create a resource webpage, and develop a teaming toolkit that builds off of the HealthPartners Teaming Framework. Toolkit items will be tested with longitudinal nurse practitioner and physician assistant students this spring.
 

Kim MyungJin

Students: What Do You Enjoy Most About Interprofessional Activities?

“Currently, I volunteer in the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic as a PT clinician and community health worker. I think it's an exceptional opportunity to be involved in direct patient care, practice communication skills, and perform hands-on treatment under direct supervision. I participated in an Interprofessional Decision-Making opportunity where medicine, nursing, and pharmacy students convened to talk about a patient case scenario. From these activities, I learned the importance of interprofessional collaboration.” - Myung Jin Kim, Doctor of Physical Therapy student
 

Group of students

Instructors: Include this Interprofessional Activity As You Plan Fall 2022 Classes

The Interprofessional Geriatric Case Competition provides an interprofessional learning opportunity for teams of undergraduate and graduate students from different disciplines to gain simulated experience in creating a care plan for a complex older patient with multiple chronic health challenges. Consider offering optional credit or up to 12 clinical hours in your Fall 2022 course syllabus. Interprofessional teams are assigned a faculty or community expert coach and work together over four weeks to create and present an innovative 20-minute case presentation. The competition will be in late September through early November. The Interprofessional Geriatric Case Competition is approved as part of the 1Health interprofessional education curriculum at the University of Minnesota.


All are invited to watch and cheer on our U of M team at the final round of the virtual CLARION National Case Competition on April 9. Each year CLARION hosts the competition for interdisciplinary health professional student teams who are given a case and are charged with creating a root cause analysis. The team presents their analysis to a panel of interprofessional judges that evaluates their analysis in the context of real world standards of practice.

 

Partnering with Communities

Ann Bussey

Project REACH Highlight: Social Isolation of Older Adults in the Iron Range

In 2021, three community leaders from rural Minnesota were selected as the inaugural cohort for Project REACH (Rural Experts Advancing Community Health), a joint initiative of the Rural Health Program through the Office of Academic Clinical Affairs and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. As part of her Project REACH work, Ann Bussey has been focused on addressing social isolation in older adults in rural communities, particularly in her hometown in the Iron Range. Her policy proposal focuses on leveraging the Minnesota State Library Services 2022-2024 Five-Year Plan to prioritize digital inclusion and digital literacy programs that champion Minnesota’s rural older adults.

 

U-Wide Events and Opportunities

Upcoming events with viruses

Upcoming Events from the Institute for Molecular Virology Symposium

Join the Institute for Molecular Virology on April 20 for the Innovations in Virus Research Lecture Series: 5th Annual Shelley N. Grimes Lecture. Join IMV on May 19 for the 18th annual symposium featuring keynote lecturers Sonja Best and Karin Musier-Forsyth. Registration and abstract submission closes on April 22.

 

earth coming out of forest

Mitigate, Adapt–or Suffer: Connecting Global Change to Local Impacts and Solutions

The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs’ Swain Climate Policy Initiative and the Big Ten Collaboration: Democracy in the 21st Century are proud to welcome the author of “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World,” Katharine Hayhoe, PhD, for a virtual event April 12.

 

Healthcare concept

Equity in Healthcare: What Does It Mean?

Join the next M Health Fairview Grand Rounds at noon on April 20 for a discussion led by Taj Mustapha, MD, assistant professor of Medicine, M Health Fairview chief equity strategy officer and HOPE commissioner, and Maria Regan Gonzalez, M Health Fairview Systems director of equity initiatives and mayor of Richfield, Minn.

 

Mountain crest

Tibetan Medicine: Transform Fear into Joyful Living

Join the Bakken Center (April 14, May 17, & May 26) for the Tibetan medicine webinar series on joyful living. This timely system of whole person health care focuses on preventing imbalance, reversing disease, restoring health, and promoting spiritual physical and spiritual immunity.

Other News

Golden star with golden on dark blue background with lighting effect and sparkle
The prestigious honor acknowledges their outstanding achievements and recognizes them as leaders in their professions.
Mini Medical School 25th Anniversary
A beacon of health education, bridging the gap between the University health sciences and the broader community.
partnership as ropes shaped as a circle in a group of diverse strings connected
Angela Botiba was initially drawn to the program because of its explicit focus on interprofessional education and collaboration.