Exploration of Global Health Careers Across the Medical Fields

Authors

  • Ernest Barthélemy Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
  • Vanessa Mallol Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai Roosevelt, New York, NY
  • Alisse Hannaford Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
  • Christian Pean NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY
  • Rehema Kutua Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
  • Christopher de Haydu Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
  • Natasha Anandaraja Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
  • Ramin Asgary Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY
  • Ebrahim Elahi Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
  • Braden Hexom Rush Medical College, Chicago, IL
  • Philip Landrigan Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
  • Taraneh Shirazian NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY
  • Craig Katz Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aogh.2017.10.008

Keywords:

career advising, curriculum development, education, global health, grounded theory

Abstract

Background

Despite expansion of interest among American medical students in global health (GH), academic medical centers face multiple obstacles to the development of structured GH curricula and career guidance. To meet these demands we sought to provide a systematic analysis of the accounts of GH experts.

Methods

We developed a collaborative, interview-based, qualitative analysis of GH experiences across six career-related themes that are relevant to medical students interested in GH: justification, medical education, economics, research prospects, law and ethics, and work-life balance. Seven GH faculty members were interviewed for 30-90 minutes using sample questions as guidelines. We applied a grounded theory approach to analyze the interview transcripts to discover an emerging theory pertinent to GH trainees.

Findings

Regarding justification, 4 respondents defined GH as work with the underserved irrespective of geographic location; 5 respondents found sustainability imperative; and all respondents believe GH creates better physicians. Respondents identified many physician competencies developed through GH medical education, with 5 respondents agreeing that work with underserved populations has transformative potential. Concerning economics, 3 respondents acknowledged GH's popularity among trainees, resulting in increased training opportunities, and 2 respondents emphasized an associated deficiency in program quality. All respondents described career models across specialties. Four respondents noted funding challenges when discussing research prospects. Within the theme of laws and ethics, 4 respondents perceived inadequate accountability, and 6 respondents identified ways to create accountability. Finally, 6 respondents recognized family demands can compromise one's GH career and thus work-life balance.

Conclusion

Despite diverse perspectives on the meaning and sustainability of GH work, this analysis provides a nascent framework that may inform curricular development for GH trainees. Suggestions are offered for elaborating this framework to fully exploit the transformative potential of GH training in medical education.

Author Biographies

Ernest Barthélemy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

MD, MA

Vanessa Mallol, Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai Roosevelt, New York, NY

MD

Alisse Hannaford, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

BS

Christian Pean, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY

MD

Rehema Kutua, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

MD

Christopher de Haydu, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT

MD

Natasha Anandaraja, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

MD

Ramin Asgary, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY

MD, MPH

Ebrahim Elahi, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

MD

Braden Hexom, Rush Medical College, Chicago, IL

MD

Philip Landrigan, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

MD, MSc

Taraneh Shirazian, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY

MD

Craig Katz, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

MD

Downloads

Published

2017-11-20

Issue

Vol. 83 No. 3-4 (2017)

Section

Original Research

License

Copyright (c) 2017 The Author(s)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms. If a submission is rejected or withdrawn prior to publication, all rights return to the author(s):

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

Submitting to the journal implicitly confirms that all named authors and rights holders have agreed to the above terms of publication. It is the submitting author's responsibility to ensure all authors and relevant institutional bodies have given their agreement at the point of submission.

Note: some institutions require authors to seek written approval in relation to the terms of publication. Should this be required, authors can request a separate licence agreement document from the editorial team (e.g. authors who are Crown employees).