Defining the Future of Academic Medicine Globally: How U.S. Universities Should Step Up to the Plate

Abstract

Last fall, Haiti’s first ever emergency medicine residents began training at University Hospital, a 300-bed teaching facility in Mirebalais, Haiti born out of the destruction of the 2010 earthquake. They join dozens of other residents at University Hospital who are advancing their skills in family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and nurse anesthesia. In the years and decades to come, the residency programs at University Hospital, located in Haiti’s rural central plateau, will allow a consistent stream of young doctors to work shoulder-to-shoulder with experienced Haitian and U.S. doctors, gaining expertise that is sorely needed to improve the health of Haiti. When we consider how to expand access to high-quality medical care, not only in Haiti but around the world, we must also consider high-quality medical education and how to best draw upon the resources of academic institutions in the U.S. The growing number of trainees are seeking out opportunities to study global health is a relatively recent phenomenon in academia—the number of global health programs at universities ballooned from just a handful in 1999 to more than 200 today. In fact, global health initiatives on American campuses have roughly tripled every five years since 2000, according to a recent study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. As a result, colleges, universities, and teaching hospitals are developing global health majors and minors for undergraduates, building institutes for interdisciplinary research and teaching, and establishing overseas rotations for medical students and residents.