What is Competency Based Education?
Competency-based education (known as CBE) has been all the rage in medical education for nearly a decade. Competency in this realm has been described as the “habitual and judicious use of communication, knowledge, technical skills, clinical reasoning, emotions, values, and reflection in daily practice for the benefit of the individual and the community being served” Continue reading
Everyday Ambassador Blog
We at Child Family Health International (CFHI) are deeply honored to be featured in the Everyday Ambassador blog post by Kate Otto. Kate’s own accomplishments in global citizenship and smart diplomacy are considerable for anyone, especially for someone at such an early point in her career. She is a great example for students today who are interested in global service.
CFHI is equally proud to be a member of the International Volunteer Programs Association (IVPA), also featured in the blog post.
Many CFHI alumni are already doing their part in the Global Health field. With over 6,000 alumni now, we have a wonderful, growing family of everyday ambassadors who advocate and educate through their everyday activities. Through their first-hand accounts of shadowing local healthcare workers in underserved and low-resourced settings, they can speak with conviction and in compelling stories about the similarities and the differences of healthcare systems, and about important global health issues. Whether they do it in a professional capacity as a lecturer or professor, or in the informal setting of a party or a dinner, they can be equally effective in telling the story and enlightening people about global realities, thereby each doing his or her own part to bring us all closer together as the human family and improve the health of the world community.
You don’t have to be abroad to be making a difference. Visit our Facebook and LinkedIn pages and join in the conversations that are happening with people all around the globe. Follow #GlobalHealth on Twitter and keep yourself current on issues and causes. Share all of this with your own social networks and you will be surprised how much influence you can have as an individual. Our world is, in so many ways, becoming a ‘smaller place’. Be a part of it; participate!
“We are approaching a new highpoint in the prevalence of US residents who were born outside the country.” This is part of a message on the Director’s Blog of the US Census Bureau website that is aimed at the marketing industry, at advertisers of goods and services, but we at CFHI believe it is also important information for current and future health professionals.
While the Census Bureau is providing this new data, none of the basic trends of an increasingly diverse population for the United States should be a surprise to us. Forward thinking health professionals and medical educators have seen the indications of these trends for many years. Health science students (including medical students, nursing students, and public health students) have not waited for courses to be developed by the data that is now beginning to be analyzed, but have taken the initiative to seek out medical electives and rotations that would give them first-hand experience of different cultures and the different ways people view health around the world.
Source: US Census Bureau -Director's Blog
With some 6,000 alumni of CFHI Global Health Immersion Programs to date, we hear over and over again from them how their CFHI experience gave them insight into the role that culture plays in health and healthcare. Tenny Lee, a 2010 CFHI Mexico alum, reports: “My experience in Mexico has given my medical career a foundation to help underserved communities and break though language and cultural barriers.” You can read more about her CFHI experience in her review posted on the website Great Nonprofits. The ability to competently serve a more widely diverse patient population will clearly become the expectation for health professionals, as we can see from the wealth of information that the US Census Bureau is releasing.
One of the most important data points released so far is that the Hispanic population of the US now exceeds 50 Million, a 43% increase since the last census as reported by CNN. And it is not just in border states in the south. The CNN article quotes demographer Jeffrey Passel at the Pew Hispanic Center as saying, “Previously, the Hispanic population was concentrated in eight or nine states; it is now spread throughout the country.”
Medical schools, organizations, and institutions of higher learning have also recognized these trends, and CFHI has been happy to work with many of them to design specific programs. The Patient Advocacy Program at the Stanford Medical School began a program abroad with CFHI in 2007. The University of California at Davis has partnered with CHFI for over five years now to offer a Bi-National Health Quarter Abroad program for undergraduates in special arrangement with the Chicana/o Studies Department at UCD. Both of these programs also make use of CFHI’s built-in Spanish Language and Medical Spanish Instruction. Students are also living with host families so they are immersed into the culture during the program. Guided journaling and weekly meetings help students reflect and integrate what they are learning from their daily interactions. CFHI is also working with others, including Northwestern University, The Student National Medical Association (SNMA), -which you can read more about in an earlier posting– and the Public Health Institute in association with the Global Health Fellows Program. CFHI has been able to partner with each group and use our 20 years of experience working at the grassroots level in underserved communities abroad to design programs that meet specific learning objectives that are achieved in real life settings with the help of local health professionals who have the unique expertise of the local healthcare system and the best understanding of the local culture.
Jessica Brown, a 2010 CFHI Ecuador alum, pulls it all together in her reflection about her CFHI experience:
“… [I] learned a wealth of information about health that extended beyond the Reproductive realm.” Jessica goes on to say, “I learned a lot about Ecuador’s healthcare system by discussing health care access, education, socioeconomic class and ethnic background with my mentors and preceptors. I learned about how religion, education and customary social/cultural schools of thought (i.e. machismo) weigh heavily on Ecuador’s society, and individual minds; I saw how the cultural “way” dictated the population’s attitude towards healthcare, especially in Women’s Reproductive Health.
The moments that caused me to question belief systems in place within myself really stretched me beyond limits I never knew possible. And it is these reflections upon the state of health care in Quito that can broaden my understanding of client needs, beliefs and culture here in the states.”
CFHI and SNMA have teamed up to present this new and specialized program that offers participants the opportunity to participate in a 2-week global health program in the city of Oaxaca Mexico!
The Student National Medical Association (SNMA) is the oldest and largest, student-run organization focused on the needs 
and concerns of medical students of color. For over 40 years SNMA has been dedicated to ensuring culturally sensitive medical education and services. For 20 years, CFHI has been offering Global Health Immersion programs designed to help students appreciate the role that culture plays in health and healthcare. By teaming up, CFHI and SNMA hope to make a Global Health experience accessible to more students. This special 2-week program, previously open only to SNMA members, is now open to all health science students. Space is limited so apply early.
The SNMA-CFHI 2-week Urban Primary Care in Oaxaca program aims to introduce students to the cultural competencies that are crucial for effective health care professionals. This program is tailored for those who wish to increase their cultural and linguistic competency as well as their understanding of the health factors affecting Latinos.
Oaxaca is an excellent setting for studying the healthcare system of Mexico and the healthcare practices of the population. Students often hold the false assumption that the healthcare is available to all, but find in Oaxaca that poor and rural populations are increasingly unable to compete for scarce health resources.
CFHI programs offer participants the opportunity to learn more about health issues that transcend national borders, class, ethnicity, and cultural divisions. By participating in CFHI’s global health education you will gain a unique insight into healthcare systems of developing countries and increase your cultural competency. Increasing one’s awareness of other cultures (cultural competency) is becoming increasingly relevant for healthcare professionals as industrialized countries become more ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse. Click here to read an article and learn more about why cultural competency is important for today’s healthcare workforce.
The program dates are June 3rd to June 18th. Please visit the CFHI website to learn more.
We look forward to having you join our grassroots work to build a global community in support of better healthcare for underserved communities and more globally aware health professionals!
Stella Chiu who spent part of her summer on one of CFHI’s Global Health Immersion Programs in South Africa contributed to a blog on the IE3 Global Internships website. Her blog post
Coming Home with New Perspectives is an honest sharing of her thoughts as she is still in the re-entry process. Stella says, “I haven’t had any major problems re-integrating. However, the only difficulties I’ve encountered are through the new perspectives that I’ve gained.”
Stella reports that after being completely immersed in the South African culture and healthcare system, and especially with the warm welcome of her South African host family, she now finds herself, at times, ‘homesick’ for South Africa. Stella recommends to others who go abroad to build in time to reflect after coming home, to “sit down and think” so that you can become aware of how your perspective has changed “both personally and professionally” by what you have experienced. She says of her friends, “Sometimes it is hard for others to understand my outlook on certain things because they have not experienced what I have experienced.”
As part of her own reflection, Stella shares, “I am grateful for the opportunity CHFI-South Africa has given me in developing my clinical skills and finding my niche. I did rotations in surgery, pediatrics, ophthalmology, and in internal medicine and found an unexpected love for surgery. I grew to understand South Africa’s health care system, as well as its deficiencies, setting the groundwork for when I can return someday to work. I have built lifelong relationships with students in the program, and the families that I stayed with. I know that I will always have a home in South Africa.”
We wish Stella well as she continues her re-entry and we know that her host family and those who worked with her in South Africa were grateful for her presence and will never forget her.
Earlier this month on September 15, 2010, CFHI convened a Forum on the Empowerment of Women, at the United Nations in New York. The purpose of the event was to increase awareness of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal #3, to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women.
Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, moderated a panel of women representing 
a cross section of leadership roles. As world leaders met this past week to discuss the MDGs, this Forum, held a week in advance, provided an opportunity for the voices of women from everyday life t be heard. Co-sponsoring NGOs included the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns, The International Center for Good Business, The Institute of International Social Development, and The Spiritual United Nations. Panelists included M. Christine MacMillan, Commissioner, Director of the International Social Justice Commission of the Salvation Army, Monika Mitchell, Executive Director, Good Business International, Hema Pandey, India Coordinator, Child Family Health International, and Jessica Evert, MD, Medical Director, Child Family Health International.
The Title of the Forum was Successes and Challenges of Women in Leadership Roles in Traditionally Male-Dominated Environments. As women are increasingly taking on leadership roles, it becomes important for them to share their experience. The panelists spoke with examples from their own lives and the audience was invited to share their comments and life experience as well.
We were especially happy to welcome our India Coordinator, Ms. Hema Pandey who was visiting from New Delhi. Hema is responsible for coordinating six CFHI Global 
Health Immersion Programs taking place in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Dehradun, and Rishikesh, as well as multiple ongoing community health projects. In the course of this work, she manages a group of five local CFHI Medical Directors, all of whom are men. Ms. Pandey spoke of using a cooperative style of working that invites the participation of those she works with thus creating a joint feeling of ownership. This being her first trip outside of India, Ms Pandey said she was surprised to find that women in the United States also felt that they were still struggling to achieve gender equality.
As the Forum drew to a close, there was a common expression of the panelists and the audience that this Forum should become and annual event until 2015, the target year for the Millennium Development Goals.
This is the second of two guest blogs by Jessica Evert, MD, CFHI Medical Director, blogging from the CUGH Annual Meeting in Seattle. Be sure to leave a comment.
Ann Dower of University of Washington’s I-TECH Center said today “we must practice the art of partnership” in order to be successful in global health. Additionally, I was struck when Kevin De Cock MD, Director of the Center for Global Health at CDC, candidly reflected on his early career immersion experience in Nairobi, Kenya, saying, “I wish I was more humble.” I think this humility and the ability to form meaningful partnerships go hand-in-hand.
This idea of ‘partnership’ has come up countless times at the CUGH meeting over the last 2 days. Many seasoned global health experts have lamented over the lack of partnerships and failures of global health attempts due to this shortcoming. How can we learn from this history? How can we build training and educational programs that prioritize partnership? It seems that many times our process (the process of US based individuals, universities, and organizations) of global engagement is not necessarily the best approach to foster partnership or humility. We often have our own ideas of how to solve problems based on our views and our skills, rather than based on the voice of communities abroad. In academia, there is the nagging issue of faculty, and sometimes students, having to demonstrate personal accomplishments and quick outcomes which often trump the empowerment of communities to own the accomplishments and guide the outcomes. To find the answer to these important questions we need to look at how we frame introductory global health experiences for health science trainees (pre-health, medical, nursing, public health, allied health, dental, and other students) and how our academic institutions approach global engagement. The first experience abroad (a stepping stone experience) or first visit to a region or country is pivotal to frame how future global engagement occurs. If individuals go abroad and set-up a tent clinic outside the local healthcare infrastructure, an appreciation for local capacity, systems, and workforce is not realized. If students go to a hospital with faculty from their US institution who displace local physicians and assumes US clinical expertise translates immediately into similar expertise in an international setting, the student sees the glorification of US faculty, rather than the appreciation of unique practices, language, and expertise of local, native practitioners. It is time we recognize that the skills necessary for partnership need to be fostered from early levels of engagement and need to be modeled by our US teaching institutions and mentors.
How do we teach health science students and trainees about partnerships? What skills does partnership require? To delve into these questions, we must define partnership. The Partnering Initiative, an NGO that specializes in partnership training, defines partnership as follows: “a cross-sector collaboration in which organisations work together in a transparent, equitable and mutually beneficial way towards a sustainable development goal and where those defined as partners agree to commit resources and share the risks as well as the benefits associated with the partnership.” This is no simple task. They also define the partnering principles as follows- equity, transparency, mutual benefit. If partnership is fundamental to the success of global health activities, then we must judge global health activities in part based on these fundamental principles. The need for trust, mutual respect, and communication are presupposed in the process of building partnerships.
We can teach the principles and precursors to partnership through thoughtful global health immersion programs. I am proud to be a part of CFHI. I think CFHI is setting a standard for both academic and NGO based immersion programs. I liken CFHI immersion programs to participant-observation techniques I utilized during my thesis work. In anthropology the mechanism of understanding a culture, community, and executing research is participant-observation. Participant observation involves gaining an understanding of another social group or community, by inserting yourself into that community in a way that is agreeable to the community, while observing the practices and learning about the culture, social structure, systems, and other behaviors. CFHI immersion experiences provide an opportunity for participant-observation. I would argue that such participant-observation, done in the context of long-term CFHI partnerships, lay the groundwork and start fostering skills necessary to form meaningful partnerships with individuals and organizations abroad. The local health care providers are the experts who teach CFHI participants what their communities are facing. We have received feedback from partners that patients consider their local providers more capable because they are teaching western health science students (rather than Western physicians or students providing the expertise in patient care at the international setting). This dynamic is very important and very powerful. The first step in the cycle of partnership, as defined by The Partnering Institute, is “scoping.” In essence we are teaching our students and trainees how to scope, which includes listening, observing, and appreciating a local reality before trying to change it.
If partnerships are key to the success of global health programs and interventions, it is time we look at what it takes to impart the skills necessary to foster partnerships. These skills include observation, humility, and restraint so we can give voice to the local community and engage in truly mutually beneficial ways. By providing stepping stone global health immersion programs that prioritize the “scoping” necessary to form partnerships, we can engender a new generation of globally-active professionals who understand from early in their exposure and interaction with global communities the fundamentals of partnership and humility that Dr. De Cook and others wish they knew from the start. It reminds me of a quote by Nietzche, “When one has finished building one’s house, one suddenly realizes that in the process one has learned something that one really needed to know in the worst way – before one began.” We can provide these lessons before students build their proverbial global health houses through conscientious global health immersion.
“It made me want to be a doctor a lot more, for sure,” she said. “Seeing doctors in action, they were really fantastic role models. It’s hard to get exposure shadowing doctors here (in the Bay Area). I’ve had a few opportunities at Stanford. The more time I got… the more inspired I am to become a doctor.” These are the words of Christina O’Neal, as reported in the Contra Costa Times by Correspondent Doug Mead. Christina, a Stanford University premedical student, spent part of her summer in the Cultural Crossroads in Health Program in 
Oaxaca, Mexico.
Christina told the Contra Costa Times in the article that her month on the CFHI program in Oaxaca, “was pretty life-changing. Everybody gets pretty much free health care there,” she said. “It’s interesting to see how things are run. There’s a lot of poverty, and the government, in terms of health care, has a lot of problems. But the infrastructure was good. I was impressed with how smooth it ran and how dedicated the doctors were. It was an awesome experience.”
The experience really improved Christina’s Spanish and Medical Spanish skills. “I’d say, before I got there, I was conversational (in Spanish),” she said. “Now, I’m borderline fluent. My comprehension, especially, skyrocketed. I’ve always had a pretty standard ability to speak. Now, I understand everything that’s happening. Even though my vocabulary didn’t grow as much, I can express myself better. Once you understand people better, it helps you to speak more correctly. We went over grammar and medical vocabulary every day (in class).”
We are very glad for Christina that her experience was so impactful and we greatly appreciate her kind words about the CFHI program as she ended her interview with the newspaper saying, “Everything was fantastic. It surpassed all my expectations. It was a phenomenal experience.”
The Chair of the Board of Directors of Child Family Health International (CFHI), Mr. Gunjan Sinha, was appointed this summer to the US Endowment Board on Science and Technology during the US-India joint commission meeting of the White House Office of Science and Technology.
The Volunteer Board of Directors of CFHI functions far from the limelight but plays an essential role in the success of CFHI. We congratulate Gunjan on this accomplishment! Gunjan’s expertise as an entrepreneur has been indispensable to CFHI over the years, and we are sure he will be viewed the same way in his new role.
The Governments of the United States and India held the meeting of the Joint Commission on Science and Technology cooperation in Washington, D.C. on June 24-25 at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. CFHI’s Board Chair, Gunjan Sinha joined the meeting as part of the U.S. delegation lead by Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to the President Barak Obama for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The Indian delegation was lead by Sri Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences. As part of the overall focus on science and technology policy, Mr. Sinha was appointed on the US Endowment Board, set forth between US and India to foster Science and Technology cooperation between the two largest democracies in the world.
The meeting follows the June 3rd discussion between US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and India’s External Affairs Minister Shri Krishna that focused on the importance of facilitating cooperation in strategic and high technology sectors as a key instrument to achieve the full potential of the strategic partnership between the two largest democracies in the world.
Mr. Sinha is also Chairman of MetricStream, a market leader in Enterprise-wide Governance, Risk, Compliance (GRC) and Quality Solutions for global corporations, based in Palo Alto, California.
The delegates at the commission include senior officials from various US federal agencies and departments including the Office of the Chief Technical Officer, Office of International and Tribal Affairs, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Department of Energy (DoE), National Science Foundation and Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science.
The joint commission between the two countries and the US-India Endowment Board will look to inspire public good and economic prosperity in US and India, through science and technology cooperation, greater public-private partnerships, promoting innovations and entrepreneurship and creating appropriate policy environment for greater bilateral co-operation. Areas of focus of the Endowment Board will include such significant areas like Food Security, Climate Change, Energy Policy and Healthcare among others.
In line with the mission of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the commission’s aims to ensure that Federal investments make the greatest possible contribution to economic prosperity, public health, environmental quality and national security, and to foster professional and scientific relationships with government officials, academics and industry representatives for providing policy-relevant advice, analysis and judgment for the President on major policies, plans and programs of the Federal government
CFHI is proud to convene a Forum on the Empowerment of Women to be held at the United Nations Church Center on September 15, 2010, in conjunction with the opening of the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Forum, entitled Successes and Challenges of Women in Leadership Roles in Traditionally Male-Dominated Environments, is an effort to shed light on the global effort to achieve Millennium Development Goal Number Three.
In government and NGO organizations worldwide, women are increasingly taking on leadership roles. What are women finding as they assume these roles? From the grassroots level to the executive level, women are succeeding in roles heretofore held only by men. Are there common experiences across these different levels? Are there common challenges? What cultural issues need to be considered? What strategies are most successful?
Join the audience along with a distinguished panel including CFHI Medical Director, Jessica Evert, MD, and direct from New Delhi, CFHI India Coordinator, Hema Pandey, as these topics and others are discussed in this lively forum. Gain insights and share your own story. Join us September 15th at 1:00 PM at 777 UN Plaza (44th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues) 8th floor, Boss Room. The forum is free and open to the general public but we do ask that you RSVP. Please click here to see more information here and the email address to RSVP.
CFHI students made the local press in Ecuador this summer. La Prensa, a local publication in the town of Puyo in the Pastaza Province of Southern Ecuador, carried a full page story of CFHI Students on the Amazon Indigenous Health Program, one of CFHI’s Global Health Immersion Programs.
CFHI Students Make New in Ecuador Summer 2010
Puyo, a city of about 25,000 people, with its close proximity to the Amazon Jungle, functions as the base for this program that allows students to see the interplay between the government Ministry of Health and the traditional medicine of indigenous populations living in the jungle much as they have for many hundreds of years. Dr. Wilfrido Torres, a local physician and the Medical Director of several CFHI programs, reports that international students coming to Puyo and to the Jungle Region, “help the local population see that local doctors and community health workers have important knowledge to share with the world.” CFHI is honored to have local experts like Dr. Torres who are eager to interact with international students.
This summer, the CFHI students were able to participate in a medical conference that CFHI helped support. The conference, a multidisciplinary conference on the latest treatments and testing for diabetes and hypertension, was part of a series of conferences to educate health professionals and paraprofessionals on these chronic diseases that are relatively new to the local population.
Australia site of Global Health Conference
CFHI is very happy to be at the Global Health Conference in Hobart, Tasmania that is being put on by the Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA). The conference running 1-4 July has a full academic program with impressive topics and excellent speakers. The entire conference is organized by and for students and the level of professionalism is truly outstanding. CFHI is very happy to be an NGO sponsor here and we find the interest and engagement of the students to be at a very high level. A CFHI alum from Perth, Samantha Mulholland (2009, Pediatric Health, La Paz), has been present and giving her first-hand descriptions of her CFHI experience.
UTAS Site of Global Health Conference Tasmania
The University of Tasmania in Hobart is the site for the conference as some 500 students gather from across Australia and New Zealand, and even from Asia and Africa.
Indeed students all over the world have a growing interest in Global Health. What is refreshing here is that so many of them are deeply informed on world issues, social determinants of health and many other areas. Panels of leading experts, student questions and discussions have all been engaging and enlightening.
Panel discussion at the Global Health Conference Hobart Tasmania July 2010
Kim McLennan, an accomplished physical therapist, and long-time CFHI volunteer, is now in Haiti and has been communicating to us some of the complexities of just trying to help. A veteran of many humanitarian missions, Kim knows that to lend a helping hand is not always as easy as it looks on the surface. The crisis in Haiti, and the
This is a U.S. Navy photo of some of the many vounteers who have gone to Haiti to help after the great earthquake
outpouring of volunteers to give assistance has amplified the Grey Areas of coordinating and managing international aid. The questions of culture, ethics, passion, compassion, and the realities of unexpected complexities are raised in her moving, first-hand account. Dr. Evaleen Jones, CFHI’s Founder and President, asked Kim if we could share her writings through this Blog. Kim gives us her experience alongside her on-the-spot reflections which are informed by her years of cross-cultural work in some very challenging situations.
We are grateful to Kim for her permission to present her observations and thoughts here. Unfinished and raw, they give us an unvarnished view of reality with no easy answers –much as the real situations in Haiti, and elsewhere in the world. You are welcome to click on the “Read More” button to leave a comment.
“Expectations
Here in Haiti, 5 months after the devastation of a 7.1 earthquake, volunteers are coming in droves. I am one of them. By the end of my stay, I will have been here 7 weeks. Most of my fellow volunteers come for one week or two if they’re lucky. Professionally, the greatest number are doctors, nurses, emergency room specialists, pediatric and wound care specialists, prosthetists and physical therapists. The majority have never been to a developing country or to Haiti before they arrive.
They come with the expectation of being welcomed for their concern and service, everyone paying their own expenses and hoping their week of selflessness will do some lasting good. Most leave, probably feeling that their mission was accomplished, even if in some small isolated way. This morning, at the hospital I’m working in, there are 20 American doctors, nurses and other hopeful people wanting to do something useful. They’re surprised when they realize how different the system is here, how charts and notes and procedures that are standard in the US are hardly used here. They are surprised that the Haitian nurses don’t speak English or seem happy to share their small desk or coveted stash of medical supplies. Many come with their own supplies of state of the art medical technology and toys and blankets and shoes. Most of it is very useful and appreciated by the patients. The Haitian staff seems to disappear when the volunteers arrive to see the rare and unusual patient injuries that have occurred here.
There have been many surgeries and interventions that would have never occurred without the volunteers being here. External fixators and wound vacs are found throughout the hospital, and the meticulous care given to the patient’s wounds is without parallel. But this is precisely the problem. The nurses here do not have the training to change the dressings or change the wound vacs and no one is training them. There will be no physical therapy or discharge planning when the NGOs pull out for good. For all their good intentions, the volunteers seem to ‘take over’ when they arrive and then complain that the Haitian staff doesn’t seem interested. Cultural differences aside, who likes it when someone new arrives on the scene, walks in, starts to do your job and then leaves, making you feel less than adequate after witnessing such expertise.
As you know, this is a touchy subject. Everyone who comes here has the best intentions, simply wanting to help. The problem is when they come, they come in groups with their own comfortable systems in place, just in a new setting. Most of the Haitian hospitals are not equipped to house or feed these additional visitors and the plumbing in Haiti already is barely serviceable. They often don’t seem to try to learn a few words of Creole, or go outside the compound to meet the Haitians and share a local meal. It probably feels like a vacation except that the food is scarce and the air-conditioning doesn’t work.
The first time I went overseas to volunteer 12 years ago in South Africa, I stayed for one month and it took me almost three weeks to feel I was accepted a little by the local staff and they still did not seem keen to have me in their midst. I have been looking ever since for better ways to interact and contribute to poor people in need of basic healthcare. I believe the answer is recognizing the potential of the local people….
It truly does no good to ‘do your thing” as a volunteer, no matter how much it is needed if you don’t teach someone else how to do it also. Volunteering in Haiti can contribute to the Haitian infrastructure only if we volunteers think about the consequences of us being here. Are we willing to be patient and work alongside someone whose future may improve from our training? Are we willing to trust that they may know a better way than the way we’ve been taught? We are influencing an entire system by our presence and we should be including them every step of the way…..”
On June 23, 2010, the Brookings Institute hosted a forum on international volunteering and service and the launch of Service World: Strategies for the Future of International Volunteer Service.
Ambassador Bagley at Launch of Service World Effort
CFHI is proud to be one of the organizations endorsing this effort that is a call for increased international cooperation at all levels. We know that as the world effectively grows smaller, the health of the world’s population will depend more and more on our ability to share knowledge, understanding and efforts across boarders and continents. Improved understanding of how culture impacts health and the global sharing of current best practices along with traditional proven interventions will benefit all of our efforts at improved health for all populations. This is the intersection of modern medicine, that builds on science and technology, and the cumulative wisdom of ancient cultures that builds on a deeper knowledge of the earth and the human mind, body, and spirit. CFHI students experience this today in the Amazon jungle and the foothills of Himalayas. To increase the ability of future health professionals to to have these transformational experiences in a manner that is socially responsible to the host communities, can only improve the health of the world community, and our progress as people toward global citizenship.
Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, Special Representative for Global Partnerships in the Office of the Secretary of State, gave the keynote, inspiring those present to work collectively toward the goal of increased opportunities for people of all ages and walks of life to volunteer service internationally. 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the birth of the idea of the Peace Corps. As the celebratory events for this anniversary happen this coming October, our nation will have the opportunity to reflect on this great idea and the great accomplishments that have come from it. Service World recognizes that the positive impacts have come not only from the government sponsored Peace Corps but also from the many private and nonprofit organizations that have taken up this global vision and provided opportunities for so many people from the United States and many other countries.
CFHI’s Founder and President, Dr. Evaleen Jones, has often recounted that the Peace Corps was an inspiration for her as a young medical student at Stanford University,when she began the creation of CFHI . More information on Service World will be posted on the Blog over the coming months.
Ann Oluloro and Stella Chiu, both students at the University of Oregon have received scholarships awarded by the IE3 Global Internships Program. Many other students from participating IE3 Schools will attend CFHI programs this year and will receive credit from their home institutions. Oluloro and Chiu, “…stood out among their peers…” according to the IE3 Field Blog Website.
Ann Oluloro Bound for Bolivia
Ann Oluloro will be participating in CFHI programs in Bolivia starting in July 2010. In her CFHI application she identified several reasons for seeking entrance to a CFHI program in Bolivia. Becoming a fluent Spanish speaker is important for her professional goals. “Being fluent in Spanish is an important part of my future career because I plan on working in public clinics. Currently, as a volunteer at White Bird Community Clinic, I often see the doctor communicate with patients in Spanish. By being able to speak another language, the doctor is able to break down a communication barrier that would have otherwise existed and is therefore able to provide the patient with the best care she possible can.” She dreams one day of working with Doctors Without Borders and she believes that her CFHI experience, “…will give me a deeper insight into international medicine…” and help her “…learn about a culture and a way of life that books and textbooks cannot provide.” She hopes that her time in Bolivia, “…will give me a glimpse and understanding of a culture that I may otherwise not have a chance to learn about first hand. In addition, the internship will teach me about the structure of public health systems and how such systems are implemented in under developed nations both in rural and urban settings. Ann has done her homework, reading about the challenges faced by many countries to provide healthcare to their populations. “I am highly interested in how some under developed nations are still able to find ways and means in which to implement effective public health systems.”
Stella Chiu will be participating in CFHI programs in South Africa. Stella’s goal is to become a doctor and also to have an impact on underserved populations. She sees being part of a CFHI program as, “…a perfect match for what I want to do with my future. I want to become a physician and gain clinical experience, but I also want to help underdeveloped countries with public health efforts.” For Stella, it is important to be immersed in another culture, “I hope to gain clinical experience in a setting that is different from that of the United States. I believe this would make me a better physician in the future because it will help me see beyond the privileged population and be more competent in serving the less privileged. I hope CFHI will provide me with opportunities to learn and experience things first-hand.”
Both Ann and Stella will be reporting on their experiences so we look forward to more in their own words. We wish these students well as they embark on a summer that they will surely remember forever, and good luck with the tremendous potential of career opportunities that await them in the future.
I had the chance to sit down with CFHI’s Medical Director, Dr. Jessica Evert, at our offices in San Francisco, just before she was honored with an award from the Global Heath Education Consortium (GHEC) at their annual conference in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Dr. Evert began her role as CFHI Medical Director in January. Her education career includes studies at Emory University, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and the University of California at San Francisco, where she continues to serve as a clinical faculty member of the Department of Family and Community Medicine.
We spoke about her introduction to Global Health, how she integrates her work as a physician in the San Francisco Bay Area with her Global Health Activities, and what attracted her to CFHI. She talks about how CFHI’s model is one that changes the dynamic by empowering local communities through actively building on their strengths in ways that lead to sustainable solutions.
Please click on the links to listen to our conversation and you are invited to join the conversation through adding your comments below.
The Editors of the national newspaper, USA TODAY added a special section to the paper on April 13, 2010, devoted to how people can help and give to others in need. One full page of the section contained a list of the only charities in the United States that meet the highest requirements of the Better Business Bureau of Nonprofits.
CFHI listed as Trusted Charity in USA TODAY
CFHI is very happy and proud, once again, to make this list. This is the third consecutive time that CFHI has made the list and we extend congratulations to all the members of the CFHI global family for this important achievement.
Under the banner headline “Start With Trust” came the list of Seal Holders of the Wise Giving Alliance, a group of nonprofit organizations in the United States that meet all 20 of the best practice standards set by the Better Business Bureau for nonprofits. These are rigorous standards that cover areas like governance, effectiveness, finances, and fund-raising. CFHI has worked very hard to meet and maintain these standards.
Dr. Jessica Evert, the Medical Director of Child Family Health International, received the Christopher Krogh Award at the GHEC – INSP Conference today.
Dr Jessica Evert Receiving Special Award from Dr Anvar Velji GHEC Co-Founder and Dr Richard Deckelbaum GHEC President at Global Health Conference in Mexico
The award, honoring the memory of Dr. Krogh, a founding member of GHEC, who died in 1994 in a plane crash while traveling as a physician for the Indian Heath Service, is given to an individual who shows dedication to serving the undersered both domestically and internationally.
Dr. Evert has worked in various places around the world, and also works on a daily basis treating patients in several underserved communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to becoming the organization’s global Medical Director, she volunteered with CFHI for several years so we are well aware of her talents and her dedication. CFHI extends a hearty congratulations to our new Medical Director as she receives this distinguished honor!
This is my second report from the Global Health Conference happening in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The conference is the joint effort of the Global Health Education Consortium (GHEC), based in San Francisco, California, and the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica (INSP), here in Curenavaca. I spoke with Lisa DeMaria, Investigadora en Ciencias Medicas of INSP and she told me about a perhaps lesser known part of the Global Health field. “There is a sophisticated network in Latin America of middle income countries with similar health issues that are working closely together to address common challenges.” “The face of Global Health is changing,” she told me as we discussed that there is much more happening today in Global Health than just the very wealthy countries attempting to help the very poor countries.
The conference this weekend is a good manifestation of this with at least 22 countries represented. It is also the First Latin American Caribbean Conference on Global Health and so the extensive regional network of health professionals is strongly represented. INSP and GHEC have championed the effort to establish this first of a kind conference without knowing for sure if there would be a second conference but the momentum that has been created here seems to be sufficient to ensure continuation with countries like Brazil, Chile, and others stepping up to carry on the tradition.
The 19th Annual GHEC Conference and the 1st Latin American and Caribbean Conference on Global Helath
GHEC - INSP Conference 2010 Cuerenavaca, Mexico
Of course, the planning for a conference like this happens more than a year in advance so as we are gathered comfortably here in Curenavaca, Mexico, having important discussions and sharing of ideas, it is important to look back and see all that has happened along the way on the journey to Cuernavaca. Not long after the decision to have the conference, came the outbreak of H1N1 in 2009 and many questioned the wisdom of continuing with the conference plan especially with the fear that a repeat flu outbreak could happen in early 2010.
More fundamentally, the intention of this conference –different, I think, from other South-South conferences– is to have the South participants truly take the lead. “The idea from the beginning was that the North participants are the guests and are primarily coming to learn” said Karen Lam, the Global Health Education Consortium (GHEC) Program Manager. With its almost 20 year history and strong following, GHEC has been able to bring the numbers that frankly support the undertaking of a major conference like this and make it financially feasible. The back story is all the effort to truly make it a success. GHEC has partnered with the Instutio Nacional de Salud Publica (INSP) here in Cuernavaca. INSP is the conference venue and has been a great host for this event. Both INSP and GHEC are to be highly commended for all the hard work to bring this event to a reality and in such a successful way!
“The vast majority of the presentations are by and from the perspective of the South participants,” Lam pointed out. Sessions are covering everything from Ethics and Equity Issues, to Global Health Diplomacy, to Public Policy, and Social Determinants of Health.
It is encouraging to see so many Mexican, Caribbean, and South American students able to be a part of this conference and to see the work of the collaborations of their fellow students and teachers so prominently featured. So far the sharing and exchange of ideas is stimulating and leaves one hopeful for all the collaborations that will now have their beginnings here in Cuernavaca.