Students Prepare for Careers in Global Health at BGU’s Medical School for International Health
Students Prepare for Careers in Global Health at BGU’s Medical School for International Health
August 19, 2011
Medical Research, Press Releases
BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, August 12, 2011 — Thirty-six first-year students at the Medical School for International Health (MSIH) have just arrived on the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) campus to begin a one-month orientation, and to prepare for classes which will begin in late August. This diverse cohort represents seven countries from across the globe; as a group they speak 17 languages, including English.
The students have just begun their first course titled Introduction to Global Health and are attending classes in medical Hebrew, taking tours of the historical sites nearby, and working with staff to select off-campus housing and get oriented to life in Beer-Sheva, Israel where they will spend their next four years.
Founded in 1997, MSIH is a collaborative program between BGU’s Faculty of Health Sciences and Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) to prepare physicians to address the political, economic, environmental and cultural factors that impact upon the health of underserved populations and individuals. A critical aspect of the admissions process at MSIH is to select students whose have demonstrated an interest in volunteerism and a commitment to working with these communities.
The range of interests and experiences of the first-year students also highlight the diversity of the class. First-year student Narissa Puran, MPH, from Jamaica, New York, has been interested in science and medicine since the eighth grade, when she was selected as a member of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gifted and Talented Youth. She pursued her master’s degree in public health at New York University and spent a year in Nepal working as an intern for Volunteers Initiative Nepal.
Christopher Brown, a former Peace Corps volunteer from Seattle, Washington, was drawn to medicine after spending 16 months in Senegal, West Africa, where he worked on malaria and HIV prevention initiatives. He feels that the additional training in medicine will increase the impact he can have on the underserved individuals he will work with after graduation.
Radha Mayuri Garikepati, a graduate of Georgetown University’s Special Master’s Program, became involved with underserved populations after graduating from the University of Minnesota, when she worked with the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She visited Huancayo, Peru, in the Andes Mountains as an FIMRC volunteer, and spent every afternoon instructing local children on basic sanitation and hygiene. It was in Peru where she saw that the lack of basic health education was leading to serious, but completely preventable diseases that led to early mortality or diminished quality of life for area residents.
The average GPA of 3.46 and the average MCAT score of 28 for the 2011 entering class is comparable to profiles of previous MSIH entering classes, with more than 40 percent holding non-science undergraduate degrees. A significant percentage of students in the entering class (36 percent) hold advanced degrees. Many hold master’s degrees in public health, an area of study that provides medical students preparing for careers in global health with an understanding of epidemiology, bio-statistics, health economics and policy.
In addition to taking basic medical sciences, the first-year curriculum incorporates global health coursework through courses, modules, workshops, and early clinical experience. The first-year students will also be blogging about their experience as medical students in a foreign country. Firstyearmsih.blogspot.com is now entering its second year as a source for insight and perspective from the first-year medical students at MSIH.
After completing residency training, alumni are expected to make significant contributions to global health through clinical work, policy development and medical education. A recent survey of the first five MSIH graduating classes found that 70 percent of alumni respondents are engaged in one or more areas of global health.
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Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and are currently being accepting for the 2012 entering class. For more information about MSIH and Columbia University’s partnership with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, contact the MSIH Admissions Office at (212) 305-9587, visit the MSIH Web site, or e-mail [email protected].
ABOUT AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY
By supporting a world-class academic institution that not only nurtures the Negev, but also shares its expertise locally and globally, Americans for Ben-Gurion University engages a community of Americans who are committed to improving the world. David Ben-Gurion envisioned that Israel’s future would be forged in the Negev. The cutting-edge research carried out at Ben-Gurion University drives that vision by sustaining a desert Silicon Valley, with the “Stanford of the Negev” at its center. The Americans for Ben-Gurion University movement supports a 21st century unifying vision for Israel by rallying around BGU’s remarkable work and role as an apolitical beacon of light in the Negev desert.
About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev embraces the endless potential we have as individuals and as a commonality to adapt and to thrive in changing environments. Inspired by our location in the desert, we aim to discover, to create, and to develop solutions to dynamic challenges, to pose questions that have yet to be asked, and to push beyond the boundaries of the commonly accepted and possible.
We are proud to be a central force for inclusion, diversity and innovation in Israel, and we strive to extend the Negev’s potential and our entrepreneurial spirit throughout the world. For example, the multi-disciplinary School for Sustainability and Climate Change at BGU leverages over 50 years of expertise on living and thriving in the desert into scalable solutions for people everywhere.
BGU at a glance:
20,000 students | 800 senior faculty | 3 campuses | 6 faculties: humanities & social sciences, health sciences, engineering sciences, natural sciences, business & management, and desert research.
For all press inquiries, please contact:
James Fattal, J Cubed Communications
516.289.1496
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