Educational Opportunities

Practicing Global Health at the Boonshoft School of Medicine

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Global Health Clinic

For the past decade, Dayton has been an “Immigrant Friendly City,” welcoming immigrants and refugees from Russia, India, Turkey, Philippines, Mexico, Iraq, Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Refugees with a diverse culture, traditions, and languages arrive in Dayton with little knowledge of its systems and regulations. Refugees often face barriers that include miscommunication due to poor interpretation across language divides, stigma related to mental health care due to having experienced trauma from conflict or war, and differing perspectives of health and well-being. These factors may lead to facing numerous challenges in accessing high quality health care in the United States.

To address the challenges of health care delivery and access for these populations, Kate Conway, M.D., MPH and Nicole Turkson, M.D., MPH, BSOM Department of Family Medicine, established the Global Health Clinic in partnership with Five Rivers Family Health Center. Five Rivers Family Health Center welcomed nearly 100 refugees in the first year of the Global Health Clinic. With a goal for refugee families to feel welcome in Dayton, Five Rivers reserves dedicated time slots every week for refugee patients. Physicians see whole families at the same time rather than separating them into individual appointments. The families are also given access to additional resources including a pharmacist, registered nurse, behavioral specialist, and social work professionals.

Launching the Global Health Clinic has allowed for medical students in the Global Health Scholars Program to learn and practice the principle that “global is local.” Students are given an opportunity to meet and care for patients from all over the world right here in our local communities.

Without a doubt, our global health clinic focuses on the importance of welcoming patients in a way that makes them feel safe and cared for. The medical teams look forward to future partnerships with a vision of other health professional students and trainees gaining a wealth of global health knowledge and having an opportunity to benefit from this rich training experience.

“Glocal” Partnerships

Recognizing that global and local public health concerns may converge in communities that welcome refugees and immigrants, BSOM faculty and students participate in “glocal” health programs and initiatives that assist community immigrants and refugees. These include: