Care with a global reach
ChristianaCare encourages residents to participate in numerous opportunities across the globe, including in the U.S. The Internal Medicine residents and faculty have been pivotal in the creation of a Global Health Initiative at ChristianaCare that works in conjunction with the Delaware Health Science Alliance, Delaware Academy of Family Physicians, Delaware Academy of Medicine, Delaware Public Health Association and Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University.
The unique aspect of the program is a multidisciplinary approach to global health education. We include all residency programs at ChristianaCare as well as other staff such as nurses, pharmacists, and nurses.
The goals specific to our residents are:
• Provide practical public health and clinical perspectives on the management of health issues and diseases in resource-poor settings.
• Train residents to provide culturally competent, patient-centered care for disease management and health promotion.
• Teach residents to recognize and address the impact of social, economic, environmental, and political factors on health disparities, both abroad and in the U.S.
• Promote skills in population-based research and community-oriented primary care.
Curriculum
The core curriculum consists of a monthly lecture series, which rotates over a two-year cycle. Speakers are both local and national guest experts in their fields, and the lectures are recorded and accessible remotely. Annual events also include journal club, skills workshops, and resident presentations.
International Elective Experiences
Resident travel is not limited to those participating in the global health track. Residents may choose to use elective time to do an approved international rotation. Over the past few years, our residents have gone to numerous destinations including:
- Haiti.
- Kenya.
- Botswana.
- Papa New Guniea.
- Thailand.
- Guatemala.
- Mexico.
- Nepal.
- Nigeria.
- Vietnam.
- Nicaragua.
- Ecuador.
- Antigua.
- India.
- Rwanda.
- Uganda.
Global Health Track
Building on the global health curriculum, the medicine program has approved the creation of a Global Health Track. Residents who complete the Global Health Track receive certification of global health training. The design is for the track to take 2 years to complete, but residents can choose to complete it over the duration of their residency.
The goal of the Global Health Track is to provide an opportunity for a more focused education in global health for residents who many want to pursue:
- Clinical or academic career in global health.
- Expand knowledge and experience of under-represented diseases.
- Career in underserved communities in the US.
- Improve healthcare for immigrants, refugees, travelers and underserved populations.
- Increase competency in the care of multicultural society.
- Increase understanding of disparities of care.
To complete certification in global health, participating residents must:
- Attend or view online 80% of the 2 year Global Health Lecture curriculum.
- Dedicate 6 weeks of electives time to global health related rotations that can include: international destinations, U.S. underserved or Federally Qualified Health Center, global health/public health research, refugee clinic.
- A presentation of global health scholarly activity.
- Attend 1 national global health conference.
- Quarterly meetings with a global health faculty mentor.