Global Health at HCMC

Global Health at HCMC and the Global Health Pathway

Thank you for your interest in the Global Health Pathway and Global Health curriculum. HCMC partners with the University of Minnesota to offer a Global Health curriculum to interested residents. I am pleased to be able to act as the HCMC pathway director. My personal experience comes working on the medical staff at HCMC and from my experiences working abroad as an educator and as a field doctor for Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders).

Global Health Curriculum
All HCMC residents learn Global Health here. Every day you will take care of refugees and immigrants from all areas of the world. Minnesota, and the Twin Cities are home to the highest percentage of refugees in the United States. We have clinics in Somali, Russian and Spanish as well as an interpreter staff of over 40 full time, medical interpreters. HCMC has a world renowned HIV/AIDS program, which cares for the largest number of HIV+ immigrants and refugees in the states. We have developed exchange programs abroad and you will learn from foreign medical students who choose to rotate at HCMC.

All residents may participate in the Tropical and Travel Medicine course at the University of Minnesota. This course is offered during July and August and is accredited by the American Society of Tropical and Travel Medicine. Residents may also take an elective in travel, immigrant and refugee health.

We have a diverse group of residents and faculty. Many are experienced working with international populations here, or in overseas settings. Our residents have worked or rotated in places as diverse as Nepal, Peru, South Africa, Tanania, El Salvador and Pakistan to name few. Similarly, our faculty have current and past work experiences in numerous overseas locations.

Global Health Pathway

Each year, we offer three spots in our global health pathway. Two are designated for Internal Medicine residents. One is designated for Internal Medicine/Emergency Medicine residents. This pathway requires that residents spend one elective each year in Pathway activities. Residents who complete the course and an elective abroad may earn a certificate of Knowledge in Clinical Tropical Medicine and Traveler’s Health.

In the first and second year residents will attend the Global Health course at the University of Minnesota. In the third year, residents will spend a one month elective abroad. We are currently affiliated with a number of sites around the world. Residents may also work overseas with HCMC faculty, and in special circumstances they may create their own elective experience.

Applicants to the Global Health Pathway should demonstrate a strong interest in investigating a career in working overseas, or with refugee and immigrant populations here at home.

For information on current sites for International rotations and on the Global Health course at the University of Minnesota you may visit these websites:

http://www.globalhealth.umn.edu/course/home.html

http://www.globalhealth.umn.edu/pathway/rotationsites/home.html

Sarah Kesler, MD

Program Director
Sarah Kesler, MD

For a formal application and more information, please email Sarah Kesler, MD.

Articles of note

The New York Times Series "Remade in America" A series about the newest immigrants and their impact on American institutions (HCMC featured) below:

Foreign Ways and War Scars Test U.S. Clinics
Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis offers an extraordinary vantage point on the ways immigrants are testing the medical establishment.

At Clinic, Tales and Health Concerns of Hispanics
As in many public hospitals across the country, the largest number of foreign-born patients at Hennepin County Medical Center are Hispanic immigrants.

Translating Health Care
Video about the challenges of delivering health care to immigrant populations. Dr. Michael Belzer, Dr. Veronica Svetaz, and Deb Boehm, RNCP interviewed.