Graduate Medical Education in Global Health

Resident physicians at IU School of Medicine can focus on global health through the Global Health Training Pathway or participate in a variety of electives that offer opportunities to advance skills related to health delivery in communities outside the United States.

Global Health Training Pathway

The Global Health Pathway training program is open to all IU School of Medicine resident physicians of any specialty who are in good standing. The program provides opportunities to engage in local and overseas electives that foster hands-on learning in global health. Faculty mentors provide critical support for residents on the global health track. Each department seeks to identify a global health faculty educator who focuses on educating all residents in their specialty regarding global health. This interdepartmental program brings together residents from the departments of pediatrics, med-peds, family medicine, surgery, internal medicine, neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and OB/GYN who share a common interest in providing high-quality, comprehensive health care to a developing world.

Other international programs include a China elective on international adoption, a program in Honduras for medical Spanish development, and many more sites. In addition to international opportunities, residents can work within the Indianapolis community in international adoption, travel medicine, and other clinics designed for specific populations.

Explore the Global Health Pathway

Global Health Electives

The AMPATH-Kenya program, pioneered by IU School of Medicine, is among the largest collaborative health care efforts in the world. At any given time, 20-40 IU School of Medicine faculty physicians from various specialties are practicing medicine in Kenya at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. Residents within the departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, and Obstetrics and Gynecology are invited to participate in this two-month elective to work within their respective departments at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital alongside Kenyan counterparts in the hospital’s wards, outpatient clinics and as part of other AMPATH initiatives. Residents attend pre-departure cultural and travel orientation and learn from in-country lectures and discussions on ethical and global health issues facilitated by permanent IU School of Medicine faculty in Kenya. Upon return, residents complete a debriefing session.

Second- and- third-year emergency medicine residents at IU School of Medicine have the opportunity to participate in a four-week rotation in Kathmandu, Nepal. Residents are exposed to clinical emergency medicine at Patan Hospital as they learn to diagnose, treat and stabilize patients in an environment with limited resources. While gaining exposure to rural/mountain medicine, residents also have the opportunity to teach students and fellow health care providers through ultrasound usage and education and simulation education.

Under the leadership of Deborah Hamby, MD, residents within the Department of Pediatrics accompany developmental pediatric faculty to orphanages in China where they conduct developmental assessments of vulnerable children and make recommendations for long-term care.

Residents training in all specialties at IU School of Medicine are encouraged to work with faculty to establish international electives at other sites with approval from their respective residency program director and the Office of Graduate Medical Education.