Illinois Medicine

ACTING GLOBALLY College of Medicine establishes Center for Global Health BASED LOCALLY, T HE COLLEGE OF MEDICINE has inaugurated a new Cen- ter for Global Health, which will coordinate all of the college's global health initia- tives, including humanitarian international missions, research and educational endeavors. The center also will develop and promote collaborations both across the University of Illinois campus in Chicago and with regional, national and international partners. "Global health plays an increasingly crucial role in global security and the se- curity of the U.S. population," says Jo- seph A. Flaherty '68, MD '71, Res '75, recently departed dean of the College of Medicine. "As the largest and one of the most diverse medical schools in the United States, we will take a leadership role in addressing global health issues." The center is under the direction of Timothy Erickson, MD, Res '89, Fellow '91, professor of emergency medicine and medical toxicology. Er- ickson is one of six College of Medi- cine faculty members with part-time appointments to the center, which has offices on campus and a staff that includes global health fellows, an administrative fellow, grant experts and environmental researchers. Erickson observes that the Col- lege of Medicine already is engaged in multiple global health activities, such as international fellowships in the departments of emergency medi- cine and obstetrics and gynecology, a global health research collabora- tive and medical student leadership groups exploring that set of issues. There also are a variety of medical service missions that send students and residents to far-flung locations in '' 8 | SUMMER 2 011 Africa, Asia and South America. "There are so many people do- ing amazing things internationally," he says. "If as an institution we can start working together and bringing to- gether these existing programs, we've got so much potential." Erickson envisions establishing ongoing sustainable medical mis- sions in foreign countries that would educate health care providers in those locations as well as treat patients. "If we can do that in a select few areas globally, we can make an impact," he says. The missions also would provide training opportunities for Illinois Medi- cine students and residents, among them students who participate in an optional global health track that the College of Medicine is developing. This track will be offered starting with the 2012-2013 academic year. "These students will be taking the normal coursework and clerkships, but they'll also take courses related to population health and global health. In their senior year, they'll go into the field for up to eight weeks to work abroad, and they'll have the necessary training to do so," Erickson explains. In addition, the center will provide grant writing assistance and other in- frastructure support for a wide range of global health research being performed by College of Medicine faculty, which currently includes such topics as pedi- atric environmental health, HIV/AIDS, women's global health, refugee/migrant health and global smoking cessation programs. The center will facilitate collabora- There are so many people doing amazing things internationally. If as an institution we can start working together and bringing together these existing programs, we've got so much potential. T IMOTHY ERICKSON, MD, RE S ' 8 9 , F E L LOW ' 9 1 '' tion between the College of Medicine and researchers at University of Illinois at Chicago's other health science colleges. The center is establishing partnerships with other institutions as well, for example, co-sponsoring a citywide conference on global health in September with the University of Chi- cago, Northwestern University and John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. According to Erickson, the center has received strong interest from Col- lege of Medicine students and faculty alike since it was announced at the beginning of the year. "This generation of students has a global vision and wants to make an impact outside of Chicago," Erickson says. "There's also been an outpouring of faculty all the way up to the most senior faculty members and UIC alumni who have an interest in this and want to make a difference in some corner of the world."

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