Global Health Opportunities for Enhanced Residency Training

Trainees may choose to advance their education within the field of global health through participation in a dedicated distinction track. The resident-run global health track at ChristianaCare hosts regular dinner meetings which follow a rotating longitudinal curriculum; program activities include peer discussions, didactic presentations, simulation-based learning, and invited guest speakers. Attendance is open to all residents and fellows from any program.

Program Goals

The goal of the CCHS global health track is to:

  • Provide practical perspectives on the management of disease in resource-constrained settings, ranging from treatment of individual cases to public health interventions aimed at affected populations.
  • Train residents and fellows to provide culturally responsive, patient-centered care for holistic health promotion.
  • Teach residents and fellows to recognize and address the impact of social, economic, environmental, and geopolitical factors on health disparities everywhere.
  • Promote skills in population-based research and community-oriented clinical care.
  • Inspire humility, compassion, and a service mindset in the next generation of physician leaders.

Through focused education in global health, residents will build skills that prepare them for:

  • Academic and clinical careers in global health.
  • Advocacy and health equity advancement work.
  • Serving low-income, underserved communities in the U.S.
  • Improving health for travelers, immigrants, and refugees.
  • Understanding under-characterized and tropical diseases.
  • Increased competency in the care of a multicultural society.

Program History

The global health curriculum at ChristianaCare was originally developed by a multidisciplinary team of residents and faculty, officially founded in 2011 by Drs. Karla Testa (Med-peds, class of 2012) and Christopher Prater (Med-peds, class of 2014). After dissolving due to pandemic disruption in 2019, the global health track was relaunched in 2023 by Drs. Steven Duncan (Med-peds, class of 2026) and faculty alumnus Lilian Msambichaka (Med-peds, class of 2017). The program was patterned after the pre-existing track with modified requirements and a reimagined organizational structure comprised of resident leaders and faculty advising.

Sample Curriculum Topics:

  • Preparing for a global health experience.
  • UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).
  • Ethics and sustainability.
  • Maternal fetal health and peripartum care.
  • Cultural humility and ethnocentrism.
  • Disaster and emergency response.
  • Cost-conscious/low resource medicine.
  • Refugee and immigrant health.
  • Local global health and urban poverty.
  • Underserved US populations.
  • Diseases of poverty.
  • Public health and research.
  • Tropical diseases and parasitology.
  • Social determinants of health.
  • Eradication programs.
  • HIV/AIDS.

Graduation with Distinction Certificate:

While didactic components of the global health program are open to all residents, membership in the track allows participants to earn a certificate of distinction at the time of graduation. Track requirements are designed to be completed over two years, though residents may choose to accomplish them throughout the duration of their residency.

To meet track requirements, residents must:

  • Attend 12 longitudinal didactic sessions (track dinner meetings).
  • Dedicate 2-4 weeks of elective time to a global health-related experience including:

    • international destinations, U.S. underserved populations (refugee/immigrant clinics), Federally Qualified Health Centers.

  • Deliver a scholarly capstone presentation reflecting on elective experiences.

Past Electives:

  • Tanzania (Myananyamala Hospital, Dar Es Salaam).
  • Peru (Hospital de Alta Complejidad, Medical Electives Peru, Trujillo).
  • Dominican Republic (Somos Amigos Clinic, El Naranjito).
  • India (KLE University, Belagavi through TJU).
  • Guatemala (Rural Healthcare).
  • Cuidad Victoria, Mexico (Community for Children).
  • Mexico (San Miguel and Guanajuato City, ¡Bienvenidos a MedSpanish!; Refugee Health Alliance, Tijuana).
  • Nepal (Rural Healthcare).
  • New Mexico (Indian Health Service, Zuni Pueblo).
  • Plymouth, England (Healthsystem Survey).
  • Brownsville, TX (Community for Children).
  • Uganda (Mulago National Referral Hospital).
  • Zambia (Village of Hope, Orphanage).

Resident travel is not restricted to those participating in the global health track, though didactic sessions are designed to be preparatory and often networking is made possible through attendance.

Please contact residentglobalhealthtrack@gmail.com for more information about global health track.