Photo by Madeline Slater

With few medicines and even fewer diagnostic tests, Uganda’s doctors work with the philosophy “give them what you got and hope it works,” says fourth-year student Mady Slater, just back from three months in Kampala working on a UCSF malaria study. Even with the challenges associated with the country’s ubiquitous poverty, Slater says the experience is the highlight of medical school to date. It is also a key element in her participation in UCSF’s Global Health Area of Concentration (AoC) program.

One of UCSF’s six AoCs, the Global Health program was developed in response to students’ overwhelming interest in international concerns, says Tom Novotny, Director of International Programs. “The world is becoming a very small place, and the problems of people abroad affect us here. Students have a burning desire to see more of the world culturally, medically, scientifically—and to be better citizens.”

Still a work in progress, the Global Health AoC is one of the only health sciences programs nationally, says Novotny, focused on “career-directed preparation in research and other work, not just medical tourism for a few months.” Ultimately, the program will offer a continuum of education that culminates, like all of the AoCs, in a substantive “legacy” project. Such a legacy will typically be a project report following a three- to six-month clinical or research international practicum in third or fourth year. It is also expected that some students will expand their research project reports enough use them as the basis for an MD with thesis.

Included in this continuum of education are required and elective courses, beginning with an overview course and special training in clinical research (launched this year). More advanced courses will touch on topics such as the macroeconomics of health, refugee health, communicable diseases such as malaria, new initiatives on HIV/AIDS and non-communicable disease risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol. Students will also be encouraged to take an extra year to do a fellowship or specialized study, such as a Masters in Public Health with an international focus.

The hallmark of the program, however, is experiential learning, says Novotny. “People need to get out and experience the field, from the culture to the laboratory.” Already, with the help of impressive faculty connections and funding provided by the Office of International Programs, students are participating in projects ranging from a health policy study in South Africa to a medical Spanish course in Guatemala to a study of infectious diseases among school children in Burma. Another student is participating in a reproductive health project in Zimbabwe, while yet another is working on a TB control study in Russia.

Slater’s “amazing and life-changing” experience in Africa exemplifies what the AoC is all about, Novotny believes. Wanting to develop first-hand awareness of international health issues as well as hone her research skills, she worked alongside Ugandan doctors on a randomized, controlled study testing three malaria therapies—a study made particularly urgent by the fact that the Ugandan population has become largely resistant to the one treatment used by the Ugandan government. Then, back in San Francisco, she rounded out her research experience by working with samples from the study in the lab.

And yet, as important as the experience was for enhancing her medical skills, Slater’s time in Uganda was perhaps even more critical to her in becoming a teacher of empathy. She says, “It opened my eyes to what it is like to live there—the lack of infrastructure, the poverty. I saw the suffering first-hand.”

Novotny sees the Global Health AoC serving another role as well—that of bridge builder. “The world is a little bit of a scary place right now. The more we send students as ambassadors, the better off we all are. If we aren’t good partners abroad, we won’t be able to contribute to solving the world’s health problems. We’re all part of this smaller global community now.”