Despite major advances in public health and clinical care, the burden of disease globally remains significant. Worldwide, millions of people from low- to middle-income countries die decades before the life expectancies now seen in more affluent parts of the world. Students of the future must be prepared to function as globally informed and engaged health educators, clinicians and scientists. This R25 Framework Programs in Global Health application will complement new multidisciplinary global initiatives at The Ohio State University (OSU).
The specific aims and core activities of this proposal are to: 1) create an administrative framework entitled The Ohio State University Center for Global Health to coordinate and accelerate global health activities at OSU;and 2) to develop robust multidisciplinary curricula in global health at the college-preparatory, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels for students and trainees enrolled at OSU.
The specific aims of supporting activities to be accomplished within the OSU Center for Global Health are: 1) to enhance currently funded global health projects at OSU through support for trainee mentoring;2) to encourage new OSU investigators from diverse disciplines to enter the global health field by providing resources and developing training opportunities for new and established faculty members;and 3) to provide evaluation mechanisms to measure successful implementation of core and supporting activities. We will create global health learning opportunities across the breadth of our students, including college-preparatory students who attend high school on the OSU campus. During year 1 of the proposal, faculty from each health sciences college will collaborate to refine existing global health courses and to develop new multidisciplinary coursework. This will be accomplished at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Undergraduate students will be offered a minor field of study in global health and graduate students will study in the newly created Interdisciplinary Specialization in Global Health. Students who are interested in mentored hands-on research, outreach and clinical experience will be mentored at international sites by funded researchers and clinicians who are engaged in global health activities at present. Resources and training for new OSU investigators will be provided to encourage more faculty to enter the field of global health. This R25 award, along with additional OSU commitments and resources, will allow us to advance global health initiatives at OSU by coordinating existing campus and international resources and creating new multidisciplinary education programs locally and abroad in a manner that attracts students and faculty from within the OSU community. Public Health Relevance: The burden of morbidity and mortality globally demands additional human resources for health. Preparing the next generation of health sciences students to investigate global problems and to deliver clinical care, outreach and preventive services require a systematic approach to training. This R25 award creates the opportunity to prepare future clinicians and researchers to reduce suffering and to advance the mission of the international health community.
