Congratulations to the following members of the Class of 2022 for receiving their Global Health Scholars Program graduation certificate. These students are now ready to continue their training as Global Health physicians and have completed the following additional curricular activities:
Class of 2021 Global Health Scholars Program Graduates Brittany Abeldt
Michelle Adamczyk
Omonivie Agboghidi
Nitika Agrawal
Tanjeev Ahmad
Jenna Braun
Benjamin Clouse
Jacob Dickman
Christopher Evola
Emily Granger
Avni Gupta
Charu Gupta
Gregory Guzik
Megan Hanna
Stephanie Hearne
Sierra Lindsey
Aubrey Lippert
Samantha Lomnicki
Logan Nye
Temitope Omoladun
Kennedy Osuagwu
Kaitlynne Pak
Asia Payne
Steven Repas
Zafer Sattouf
Emily Schneider
Ilana Siegal
Kelly Spiller
Joshua Sylvan
Bowranigan Tharmalingam
Ashley Trent
Anne Tulisiak
Todd Turner
William Winter
Dear Global Health Graduates,
Please accept my heartfelt congratulations as we celebrate you and all your achievements today and in the coming weeks. You have much to be proud of and we are honored to have been a part of your journey. You have weathered a medical school experience like no other! I am truly honored and grateful for your creative energies and willingness to constantly pivot with patience as we carried forward a Global Health program in the middle of a pandemic. COVID changed the way we were able to interact, serve, and learn together. I experienced the uncertainty and disappointment with you all along the journey. But it also gave us many reminders of why YOU are most needed in this world…Global Health physicians who know and appreciate how we are all truly connected on this planet.
You are uniquely ready to continue your training in serving patients. You already have special skills that will allow you to serve patients abroad, those in the middle of migration and resettlement, and those who have called the United States home for some time. As a medical student in Dayton and now a soon-to-be MD, you have and will serve patients with global issues to address wherever you are: Foreign born, Native-born, Underserved, Minority, Immigrant, Refugee, Asylee, Appalachian, Health disparity, Non-English Speaker, Native American, Indigenous, First Generation, Migrant, Homeless, Stateless, No insurance or Underinsured, Overworked and Underpaid or Unemployed, Disabled, Exiled, Discriminated against, Tortured, Bullied, Abandoned, Abused.
You know and understand these labels and how they impact patients’ lives and health. You also realize that if you don’t look beyond these labels and find their personal power, their resilience, see and appreciate their individual and unique gifts brought to our interaction and to their community….you couldn’t be the doctor your patient needed most. Paul Farmer’s influence on Global Health values and vision cannot be understated. His recent passing has brought many of those ideals into the spotlight again and remind us all to not lose our way when pursuing greatness for ourselves and for our communities. The ONE patient in front of us matters the most. AND the ONE patient who cannot get to you matters even more.
The American patient is and will be bringing global influence right to our own local clinics and hospitals. Americans already are more racially and ethnically diverse than we have ever been and the United States is projected to be even more so in the coming decades. It is estimated that within a few decades the US will not have a single racial or ethnic majority. This is good news for everyone, diversity breaths innovation and sustainable effective change forward!
Why is it important for medical students to leave this country and learn about healthcare in other countries? The answer is quite simple: You come home and You are changed. That CHANGE is what your patients here need from you now and in your future. You will now be able to participate more fully in creating a “Culture of Health” for ALL your patients. You will now be able to understand, plan, implement, teach, and advocate for ALL your patients to have systems of health that include THEM in achieving WHO’s definition of health – a state of complete physical, mental, social well-being. The skills you learned and will continue to learn in your future global health experiences serve your local patients here ten-fold. Your patients have a better doctor because you participated in this curriculum and field experience. You as our future physicians are ready to receive the stamps of approval from your global patients right here every day…greeting them with kindness, compassion, and competence. So on behalf of all the patients you will see, THANK YOU for taking such good care of them, they need you and have many gifts to share with you as well…be ready! Be Boonshoft! And do Be Back!
“As we are reminded throughout our work, the practice of global health begins wherever you put your feet. In other words, as with all systems of power, many health disparities are intensely local; trainees’ own communities are on the globe, too.” - MC Medical Education 2016 16:296
“When it comes to Global Health, there is no ‘Them’ only ‘Us’. – Global Health Council
“The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that’s wrong with the world.” – Paul Farmer
Sincerely,
Kate Conway MD, MPH
Director of Global Health Scholars Program
