Global Health

Because Duke University’s mission statement includes the words . . . “to contribute boldly to the international community of scholarship….to help those who suffer, cure disease, and promote health…”

 . . . and because the Duke Global Health initiative is moving forward on projects across campus and across the world to start making an impact on public health on an international scale . . .

 . . . its time to start getting ourselves, as medical students, more involved in the process and show the rest of the university community that we can help make a difference.

 
Right now, we’re working on advocacy/education projects, which included a showing of “Hotel Rwanda” and a discussion of Darfur in terms of the humanitarian and health crisis there, as well as other projects including a collaboration with Rotary International to distribute medical tech to needy areas in the developing world.

We’re also working on putting together a resource list for ourselves as medical students, because Duke Med allows us the opportunity to participate in electives abroad.  Although a lot of students have done this in the past, the process to contact preceptors and institutions across the world is time-consuming and difficult, and this Committee wants to make that process easier to encourage more students to participate by providing contacts and links to institutions and possible funding sources.

Finally, we want to increase the dialogue between us, the medical students of the American Medical Association and of Duke in general, with our own administration, with the policy school, the business school, the law school, the Hubert-Yeargan Center for Global Health, the undergrad campus, and everyone else who is working on the important issues that surround global health.

By doing these things, we want to create a stronger, positive, and productive network of activities, opportunities and contacts that really puts the energy of our members to work.  We want to honor that Duke Mission Statement – to help those who suffer, cure disease, and promote health – and so we hope you keep that in mind as you continue your time here at Duke Med and recognize that you can make a big difference through your work here, even at the international level.