At the Dickey Center for International Understanding’s first annual Global Health Day on Thursday, in between attending a networking session and panel discussions, students tossed beanbags in the hopes of earning “health care dollars.” Participants, who were each assigned a character with a specific health description, also lost “health status points” based on simulated events. The session, organized by The Dartmouth Institute for Health Care Policy and Clinical Practice initiative ReThink Health, sought to address barriers to health care access.
A pilot program organized through the Dickey Center’s Global Health Initiative, the daylong event included a global health group information session, a career networking panel, four breakout sessions and a keynote address.
Jessica Friedman, the manager of the global health initiative, said the event had been in the works for some time. One of its main priorities was to unite the various organizations and departments doing global health work, Friedman said, showcasing the innovative ways in which people engage with related issues.
Victoria Trump-Redd ’14 said she was excited about the event’s potential to gather organizations and individuals working on global health issues at Dartmouth.
Trump-Redd is president of Dartmouth’s chapter of Cover the Globe, which aims to promote equality in health care.
Participants also engaged in a career networking session. Global health professionals spoke informally about their career paths.
Kim Hartmann Tu ’15, a participating professional, spoke about her transition from investment banking to working as innovative finance manager for the GAVI Alliance, an organization focused on promoting immunization for children worldwide.
Hartmann had intended to become a doctor as an undergraduate, but she shifted her focus to finance after a meaningful encounter with a professor, who told her that finance was about connecting people with ideas and no resources to people with resources and no ideas.
Other global health professionals in attendance had worked in diverse fields, including mobile electronics and laboratory vaccine development.
In the third segment, students broke out into four interactive sessions, exploring partnership development, global health ethics, global health and technology and barriers to health care access.
The keynote address featured a panel discussion on HIV prevention and treatment between Samson Njolomole, Partners in Health’s external relations manager in Malawi, and Jean Luc Nkurikiyimfura, director of the HIV Clinic at Rwanda’s Kigali University teaching hospital. Lisa Adams, Geisel School of Medicine professor and associate dean for global health, moderated the panel.
The discussion focused on HIV and AIDS care in Malawi and Rwanda and addressed the role of stigma as a barrier to care. Njolomole shared his experiences as an HIV-positive man, explaining that he was fired from his job when his former employer learned of his status. He has since worked to promote community awareness with Partners in Health.
Jocelyn Powelson ’14, who attended the event, said that many of Njolomole’s points reminded her of her internship experience working with HIV-positive individuals in Lesotho.
Immediately before the keynote, Friedman announced essay, photo and poster competition winners. Talia Shoshany ’15 authored the winning essay, titled “A Transformed Schoolhouse,” about her time working with MedLife in Ecuador. Geisel student Spencer James won awards for his poster and photography.
Undergraduates were closely involved in the planning process, said Bridget Golob ’14, who chaired a student committee that began meeting last fall to encourage campus engagement.
Golob explained that Global Health Day events have been held at other institutions across the U.S. She noted that the College’s event aimed to showcase the breadth of global health work being done at Dartmouth.
Participating groups included GlobeMed, MedLife, Physicians for Human Rights, Standpoints Magazine and Cover the Globe. The groups kicked off the event with an information session.
