Roba Abousaway (left) stands alongside Rebecca Cook.
Third-year Dell Medical School student Roba Abousaway posed proudly for a photo with her team’s winning poster, “Global Health Student Ambassadors: An Innovative Approach to Strengthen Reciprocal Exchange Partnerships,” which showcased an ongoing initiative at Dell Med to forge peer-to-peer global health student connections.
For Abousaway, being one of seven winners of this year’s student posters competition at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health annual conference was the cherry on top of an incredible three days of strengthening her own connections to the global health community.
“I had so many people show an interest in the student ambassador program with a hope to implement something similar at their universities,” Abousaway said.
Abousaway was part of a Dell Med contingent attending the conference, which welcomed more than 1,300 people from 61 countries to Atlanta in February. In addition to two other Dell Med students presenting an abstract, Rebecca Cook, M.D., from the Division of Global Health, presented alongside three pasantes — medical students in their social service year — from Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, the AMPATH institutional partner in Puebla, Mexico. She noted the high value of experiences like the conference in centering the mutual training mission of Dell Med and AMPATH and investing in future clinicians.
“It was special to see the blossoming peer relationships between Mexican and Texan medical school trainees formally presenting their academic global health work and informally exchanging clinical and life experiences during breaks,” Cook said. “The conference was an amazing opportunity for students from both countries to have exposure to the breadth and depth of opportunities and impact in global health as they make important decisions about their future careers.”
The year’s conference theme — Innovating and Implementing in Global Health for a Sustainable Future — was the perfect opportunity for Dell Med to highlight their growing partnerships in global health through AMPATH collaborations. Dell Med’s winning student poster was a culmination of learning from the first two years of hosting Moi University medical students from Kenya in Austin as part of the AMPATH partnership’s bilateral exchange of trainees.
The Consortium of Universities for Global Health’s annual conference is the world’s largest academic global health conference.
To support these peer-to-peer connections, the Division of Global health launched an innovative weekly elective in which visiting Kenyan medical students and select Dell Med student ambassadors learn together about their countries’ health system challenges and successes. Led by Dell Med faculty who frequently participate in global health care, education and research, the student ambassadors also orient visiting students to clinical work and enjoy time in professional and cultural exchange. So far, the program has been a success, and it begins its third year this fall.
Two other Dell Med students, Lauren Contreras and Alia Pederson, shared a reflection piece that won an honorable mention in the trainee essay competition. Contreras remarked on the possibility of new collaborations and relationships mutually shaping personal and institutional futures.
“The conference was an incredible networking opportunity as a trainee in that I could showcase my work to a wider stage,” Contreras said. “I loved connecting with faculty from other institutions who were genuinely excited to hear about our projects at Dell Med.”
Sharing Knowledge Across Borders
Lizbeth Vargas Castillo (left) and Yoselin Palacios Contreras (right) share their poster on community-based cancer prevention.
The three AMPATH/MAPAS México trainees from BUAP — Adriana Amairani Serrano Mateos, Yoselin Palacios Contreras and Lisbeth Vargas — presented two posters.
The first explained a community-based model to increase cancer prevention and screening by training community health promoters, and the second demonstrated a research project on the implementation and health impacts of ecological stoves in rural Puebla communities.
Though this was their first time presenting at an international conference — and Serrano’s first trip outside of Mexico — they loved the multicultural environment and leaped at the chance to share their knowledge as social service doctors from the state of Puebla on a global stage.
“The opportunity to engage with people from diverse countries and immerse myself in that dynamic environment was both professionally and personally inspiring,” Palacios said.
“Sharing results, exchanging strategies with similar projects, and connecting with professionals from different cultures and in different languages contributed to my personal and professional growth,” Vargas agreed. “Without a doubt, it is an experience I would love to repeat.”
From hosting annual events, sharing online training resources and creating educational standards, to supporting thought leadership and mobilizing for action, the Consortium of Universities for Global Health creates a supportive academic forum and encourages teamwork to improve global health outcomes worldwide. They also acknowledge groundbreaking work and important figures in the global health community, including Adrian Gardner, director of Indiana University Center for Global Health Equity and Executive Director of the AMPATH Consortium, who accepted this year’s Dr. Thomas Hall-Dr. Nelson Sewankambo Mid-Career Leadership Award.
And rising leaders in global health are right here at home: Both Dell Med and BUAP students expressed gratitude for the support of the Division of Global Health in attending the conference, and excitement at the ripple effect it had on their professional paths.
“I have changed my career goals based on this experience,” Pederson said. “Attending CUGH was transformative for me. I met amazing people and saw work I didn’t even know was possible to do.”