The Department of Public Health and Family Medicine (PHFM) is launching a new Global Health initiative including student internship opportunities as well as a new MPH Global Health Concentration.

Dr. Harris A. Berman, Chair of the department and Dean of Public Health and Professional Degree Programs noted that "These exciting new programs are being established to respond to the needs expressed by our students, to learn and experience Public Health and medical care in a global setting. As the world becomes much more of a global community, the diseases of the developing world travel to our borders in matters of hours, and the diseases of developed countries are becoming more common in the developing world. These new programs will deal with these important issues, and add an important dimension to the education at Tufts."

While the Global Health Concentration, will open in September 2007, the Fellowship Programs will begin this summer. Opportunities are available for students in the MD/MPH, DVM/MPH, MPH and MS-Health Communication degree programs. In March applications were solicited for this summer and additional placements will be announced later this year. Opportunities include:

Panama

In collaboration with the School of Medicine at Panama University (Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional De Panama), students will divide their time between language school with an emphasis on medical Spanish, and a community health center in the Panama West Health Area. They will work as volunteers in activities such as: Well baby clinic, prenatal care clinic, school and environmental health programs. Dr. Odilia Bermudez, Assistant Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine, (odilia.bermudez@tufts.edu), will direct the program.

East Africa (and soon Vellore, India)

This project builds on Curriculum Co-Development (CCD) work done by Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths over the past five years. Placement sites will be academically based at the Institute of Public Health at Makerere University, Kampala (Uganda), and the School of Public Health at Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Students will work on public health and environmental projects that will be tailored to their interests. Secondarily, students will function as 'champions' to assist faculty at the participating institutions with the use of TUSK (Tufts University Science Knowledgebase), up-loading content, and in organizing discussion groups. Public health faculty members from the host institutions use TUSK in subsequent courses linking East African curricula and students with their Tufts' counterparts.

We anticipate project expansion to Christian Medical College in Vellore, India as well. Students interested in a Vellore summer project, or in Applied Learning Experience funding in the fall or spring of 2006-2007 academic year, should consider this route. To learn more, contact Dr. Griffiths, Associate Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine, at jeffrey.griffiths@tufts.edu.

Mangalore, India

Father Muller Medical College is collaborating with the PHFM Department in planning and directing pre-clinical, clinical and public health experiences in India. Potential educational experiences range from lectures about health, nutrition and socioeconomic situation in India, local hospitals visits, community health centers, and other medical facilities, including traditional and uniquely Indian health settings such as Ashrams.

Students at the pre-clinical level or who desire a public health experience may work in a Mangalore area community health center, where they may work as volunteers in sites such as: Well baby clinic; prenatal care clinic; School health program; Immunization campaigns in rural posts; and environmental health programs. To learn more, please contact Dr. Harris Berman at harris.berman@tufts.edu.

Hickey-Peyton International Travel Fellowship

The Hickey-Peyton Travel Fellowship was established through an anonymous gift to TUSM to support students interested in public health research/activities in international settings. It is hoped that through this opportunity, students will gain perspective about public health and medical care practice. Fellowships are awarded annually to first year medical students. Students must arrange their own placements with a preceptor in the host country, and are free to select whatever country they wish as long as there are no U.S. State Department travel warnings in force. To learn more, contact James Hyde, MA, SM, Associate Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine at james.hyde@tufts.edu.

Global Health Concentration

The new Global Health Concentration will give MPH students an opportunity to focus on global health by taking four global health courses and completing their core MPH requirements. A complete description of this concentration will be in the next issue of the newsletter.