GlobalHealthNewsletterSpring2011

NEWSGlobal Health

Spring 2011

CONTEMPLATION • COMPASSION • ADVOCACY

A Thank You to our Donors

The Seventh Annual Global Health Night, held on Thursday, January 27th was an evening full of stories of global outreach, student presentations and a sampling of international

dishes. The evening was organized with help from the Humanities Department, the Doctors Kienle Center for Humanistic Medicine and the student run Global Health Interest Group. First and second

year medical students volunteered their time to solicit donations from local restaurants throughout Hershey and the Harrisburg area. All the proceeds from the evening were donated to the Doctors Kienle Center Scholarship fund, which provides funding for medical student service trips abroad.

Dr. John Myers, the director of pediatric and congenital heart surgery, opened the night by detailing his experiences in Ecuador. Every year, Dr. Myers and other physicians from the Penn State Children’s Heart Group travel to Guayaquil, Ecuador to perform surgeries on children with congenital defects, essentially handing them a future. The keynote speaker, Dr. Thuy

Bui traveled from the University of Pittsburgh where she is currently the director of the International tract of the Internal Medicine Residency program. Her talk was a great insight into the work she does and the love of the people she has worked with in Malawi.

Global Health Scholarship Opportunities:

• Graham and Elizabeth Jeffries International Health Fund – Available to full time medical students studying abroad in a developing country. Preference is given to students who spend at least 2 months abroad. – Application deadline: April 1

• James Herring Teeter and Mae McDonald Teeter International Health Policy Scholarship – Available for 4th year full time medical students studying abroad in a developing country. Preference is given to students who will be working at mission hospitals. – Application deadline: April 1

• Mark J. Young International Health Policy Scholarship – Available to medical students, faculty, fellows, and residents at PSU-HMC who wish to attend international conferences or workshops focused on international health care or policy, or to participate in innovative, ongoing international health care or health care policy projects. – Application deadline: March 1

• Derry Presbyterian Church Medical Student International/ Global Health Fund – Available to full time medical students at PSU/COM who will spend 1-2 months abroad in an appropriately supervised elective. Preference given to Christian students. – Application deadline: April 1 (1st year), August 1 (4th year)

• The Doctors Kienle Center for Humanistic Medicine Grants for Service to Underserved Populations – Available to Penn State medical students. Preference given to first year medical students. – Application deadline: March 1

• Awards offered through the MSR Program: – College of Medicine Medical Student Research Award: five awards for $2,000 – Mellinger Medical Student Research Scholarship: two awards for $2,000 – Trout Medical Student Research Scholarship: one award for $1,500 – Lloyd Scholarship for International Medical Research: one award for $3,000 for a project conducted in a country other than the United States. – Hill Family Medical Student Cancer Research Fund Award: two awards for $2,000 for projects in cancer research.

Global Health Night 2011By Catherine Kavanagh

James Herring Teeter and Mae McDaniel Teeter International ScholarshipBy Sarah Smith

Dr. James “Jim” Teeter and his wife Mae were a doctor/nurse team that volunteered annually to serve in mission hospitals in third world countries. For several decades, at their own expense, they shared this life changing experience with medical students who had an interest in medical missions. The Teeter scholarship now provides current and future students with a similar global

health experience.

Dr. Jim Teeter was a graduate of The University of Maryland and practiced general surgery in Waynesboro, PA. Mae Teeter, his wife, was a graduate of the Johns Hopkins nursing school nurse. They set up a practice with two other physicians who agreed that each would spend two to three months annually overseas doing medical missionary work. The team traveled the world performing medical work at mission hospitals in South America, Africa, New Guinea, and various parts of Southeast Asia. Most of the medical work was done in affiliation with the World Medical Mission in Boone, North Carolina. As a general surgeon practicing in rural Africa, Dr. Teeter was responsible for a wide range of operation often performed with limited support and facilities; at one location in Southern Sudan he needed to operate under the headlights of automobile. To prepare for this task, Dr. Teeter attended Grand Rounds in Hershey and spent many hours shadowing orthopedic and plastic surgeries at the Hershey Med Center.

Dr. Graham Jeffries and his wife Elizabeth traveled with the Teeters on ten medical mission trips, mostly to Kenya. “It really was a fabulous experience. I came to know Jim and Mae extremely well”, Dr. Jeffries stated. “They were an inspiration to us both”. “Jim was probably the best operating room teacher I know.” As an illustration of this, he showed one of our senior students how to perform an emergency Caesarian Section and assisted her with the next; with minimal assistance she delivered triplets. One of our senior medical residents worked with Dr. Teeter at a hospital in Swaziland and decided based on this experience that he should become a surgeon.

In 1995, Dr. Jeffries contacted the many former students who had traveled with the Teeters to ask if they would contribute to a scholarship fund to honor Jim and Mae. Every one of them responded with positive remarks about their experience

overseas, several stating it was their best educational experience in medical school. Their contributions helped to establish the Teeter scholarship fund that is currently available to support fourth year medical students working in mission hospitals in developing nations.

Recipient: Last year the James Herring Teeter and Mae McDaniel Teeter International Scholarship was awarded to Brandon Smetana, a fourth year medical student at the Penn State College of Medicine who used the funding to work at the CURE International Hospital in Honduras.

Brandon Smetana: I spent just two short weeks in Honduras but the experiences I had in San Pedro Sula significantly expanded my worldview through gaining a cross-cultural experience, learning to appreciate the Honduran population’s perspective on both their country and health care system. More importantly, my time in Honduras primed my future career for an involvement in global health care. I am very fortunate to have had this opportunity.

Dr. Graham Jeffries, gastroenterologist and former Chairman of Medicine at the Penn State Hershey College of Medicine, and his wife Elizabeth established the Graham and

Elizabeth Jeffries International Health Fund in 2009 in order to help medical students who wish to pursue a global health experience.Dr. Jeffries was involved with creating the James Herring Teeter and Mae McDonald Teeter International Scholarship years earlier but wanted to start a new scholarship that was less restrictive and enabled more students to be included. The Teeter scholarship was restricted to fourth year medical students serving at a mission hospital abroad. Dr. Jeffries felt that there was need for scholarship support that was less restrictive and would provide overseas opportunities for all medical students.The Graham and Elizabeth Jeffries International Health Fund is available to medical students during any year of their training and preference is given to students who will spend 2 months at a host country. Dr. Jeffries explained that he preferred at least two months experience so that the student has time to adjust to the local lifestyle and gain more from the experience.Dr. Jeffries passion for the global health medicine program is based on his experience with the Teeters and medical students overseas. He came to appreciate that this was an important educational and cultural experience that could not be gained at the medical center. The increasing debt that medical students have with rising tuition

expenses requires scholarship support for elective global health experience. Dr. Jeffries hopes that in the future when former global health scholars are established in practice, they will continue to serve as physicians overseas and will contribute to our scholarship programs.

Recipients:Last year the Graham and Elizabeth Jeffries International Health Fund was awarded to three first year medical students from the Penn State College of Medicine: Michael Santos, Megan Federber, and Heather Bowers.

Michael Santos: Last year I was awarded $1000.00 from the Jeffries fund. This award money was used primarily for in country travel from Quito to Guayaquil, as well as for research equipment used in my project (portable spirometer and mouthpieces). One of the biggest expenses was lodging, and about half of this award went to our accommodations in San Pablo.

Megan Federber: The Graham and Elizabeth Jeffries scholarship assisted me in defraying the cost of my trip to Ecuador, where I lived, worked, traveled, and performed research for six weeks. I was afforded the opportunity to learn about the Ecuadorian health care system and examine the differences in access to health care between urban and rural communities. I conducted research investigating the prevalence of anemia and malnutrition among elementary school children in the small coastal town of San Pablo, which is the community of particular interest for the Global Health Scholars Program. The entire experience reminded me of the reason why I chose to pursue medicine as a career, and reinforced my desire to serve the underserved both locally and internationally in the future.

Graham and Elizabeth Jeffries International Health FundBy: Sarah Smith

Since its birth 26 years ago, the Kienle Center for Humanistic Medicine’s goal has been “to promote ways to restore and enhance care that is both compassionate and technically excellent, emphasizing every patient’s individual needs.” This desire to support humanism in medicine has meant involvement in far-reaching projects that don’t fall under the typical categories of a medical curriculum - from art exhibitions to writing contests. In addition, the Kienle Center supports students traveling globally for medical projects that fit in the broad category of service to underserved populations.

According to Dr. Philip Wilson, director of the Kienle Center for Humanistic Medicine since 2007, early on, there was not nearly so much interest among medical students at Hershey in medicine in developing countries – perhaps partly because of a larger medical school class in recent years but also because of a changing culture of service. Whatever the reason, now, many more students are interested in treating patients from underserved areas, domestically and abroad. That the Kienle Center decided some years later to add grants for Service to Underserved Populations to its repertoire is largely “demand driven,” according to Dr. Wilson. He considers the scholarships a direct response to the Student Global Health Society’s surge in interest several years ago.

The Kienle Center grants stand out somewhat in that there are so many of them. The trend in recent years is to spread the funding out over a larger number of students and a larger number of places around the globe, including domestically. “If the passion’s there, students are going to find a way to go,” said Dr. Wilson. The Kienle Center grants are intended to ease the financial burden. In the past several years, students receiving scholarships have grown from 10 in 2009 up to 20 this year. Many of this year’s grants went to students researching in Ecuador for the Global Health Scholars Program.

In past years, Kienle Center scholarships have helped medical students travel to New Orleans, to volunteer with the Uganda Village Project, to New Dehli with Unite for Sight, and to American Indian reservations among many other projects.

In addition, separate funds from the Kienle Center have supported the Christian Medical Society on Spring Break

mission trips, which Dr. Wilson says, “build solid packages far beyond tourism.” This year’s group of 14 students went to Guatemala.The impetus for the Kienle Center grants reflects a trend within medical education culture in general. More students than ever apply for medical school already equipped with master’s degrees in public health. In addition, far more undergraduates (and medical students) are being exposed to foreign places through study abroad semesters or short learning tours. Going abroad – often to developing nations – is becoming a more standard part of the undergraduate experience. And whether or not a person’s Semester at Sea was a blur of partying, that time out of the country usually also awakens an awareness of other places and other needs that is genuine. Often students come to medical school – I know I did – hoping that they have finally found an outlet to provide concrete assistance abroad. For Penn State students, the Kienle Center grants are a centralized funding source to help make that a reality.Applicant strength is assessed by three faculty with experience in underserved communities. Factors such as overall strength of the project, maximizing global coverage, association with trusted connections or advisors, and travel expenses. The scholarship is not intended to send students to foreign conferences, but rather to give students experience working directly with needy people of their particular nation of interest.

The Doctors Kienle Center for Humanistic Medicine Grants for Service to Underserved PopulationsBy: Sarah Roberts

Mark J. Young, MD, the first chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences here at the Penn State Hershey College of Medicine, was a lifelong champion of global health. Though he

was born in the United States, he retained deep roots to China where his parents had grown up. Though he hailed from China, he set his sights on education and health care worldwide. Each year, he would invite students from Moi University in Kenya into his home for 4-6 weeks to shadow him and learn about the practice of medicine in the United States. Dr. Young’s life tragically ended when he died in a tennis match in 2004 at the age of 52. Shortly thereafter,

his colleagues at the Department of Public Health Sciences formed the Mark J. Young International Health Policy Scholarship. Dr. Vernon M. Chinchilli, Dr. Young’s close friend, former vice-chair, and current chair, was among the first faculty members, along with Dr. Tom Lloyd, involved in the scholarship. Dr. Chinchilli remembers his Wednesday afternoon trips to the Hershey Hotel to play 9-holes with his then best friend, Dr. Young. Dr. Chinchilli and the rest of the Department of Public Health Sciences began offering the scholarship in 2004 with the hope of maintaining the memory of Dr. Young and underlining his lifelong commitment to global health.The Mark J. Young International Health Policy Scholarship seeks to fund students who are interested in spending time working on health policy, one of Dr. Young’s chief interests in global health. Previous

winners include Dr. Wenke Hwang, Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences, who won the scholarship in 2010 and spent his time in Taiwan. Laura Spece, Class of 2012, won the scholarship in 2009 and traveled to India. Though the scholarship focuses on health policy, it is not exclusively restricted to that and can be used for humanitarian work as well. Since its creation, Dr. Chinchilli has since stepped down from the selection committee, which is now run by Dr. Fredrick.Dr. Chinchilli would also like to note that there is a second award named after Dr. Young, the Mark J. Young Award, which is given to the highest achieving MS graduate student in their department. Dr. Young played an integral part in the creation of the department in 1997 and the development of its MS graduate program here at Hershey.

Mark J. Young International Health Policy ScholarshipBy Kimberly Faldetta

A biography. Mark Young grew up in Illinois, and graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1978. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Michigan and was a Kaiser Family Foundation Fellow in general medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1995, Mark was recruited by the Lehigh Valley Hospital Health Network (LVHHN) to hold the Leonard Parker Pool Endowed Chair in Community Health and Health Studies and to be the senior vice president for education and research. He was passionately involved in bettering the region’s health and created a model where all citizens, regardless of age, gender or social status, could attain optimal health and well-being.

Mark’s leadership skills were recognized by Penn State, and in 1997 became the first chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences (PHS). Mark spent the next six years simultaneously leading two large Academic Health Care departments – one at LVH HN in Allentown and the PHS department at Hershey. Under Mark’s leadership, the number of tenure track faculty, staff and external research funding for PHS tripled between 1997 and 2003. One of

Mark’s most notable achievements was the creation of a new masters’ program at Penn State Hershey to train physicians to become successful clinical investigators. Mark was the architect of this program which went from his creative concept in mid-1997 to enrolling it’s first class of physician students in July 1999. The

program has routinely graduated four to six physician scientists each year since 2001 and has become an integral part of several new Penn State initiatives designed to expand Penn State’s clinical research enterprise.At LVHHN, he was the Associate Dean for Education, and he coordinated resident activities between Penn State and LVH. He was also instrumental in establishing a medical student program between the University of Indiana Medical School and the Moi University in Kenya. He hosted many Kenyan medical students who studied at Lehigh Valley Hospital. In part, as a result of his own clinical experiences in Kenya, Mark routinely donated clinical time at an AIDS clinic in Allentown.

Mark’s efforts to make the world a better place were felt in many ways outside of his medical centers endeavors. Mark hosted many Kenyan medical students who studied at Lehigh Valley Hospital and as result of his own clinical experiences in Kenya, Mark routinely donated clinical time at an AIDS clinic in Allentown. Mark’s own research interests were in international health policy issues and it is for this reason that the Mark J. Young International Health Policy Scholarship is so dedicated. Mark was a caring physician, gifted teacher, who, as in everything that he did, was giving his all in a tennis match when he passed away April 24, 2004 at age 52.

About Mark J. YoungBy Tom Lloyd, Ph.D.

A Remembrance by Tom Lloyd, Ph.D.

Mark and I had an affinity for one another from our very first meeting at the Restaurant on Chocolate when he was being recruited for the chair of HES. I realized that he had a broad intellectual bandwidth and he clearly wanted to make the world a better place. I was delighted when he recruited me and two coworkers to HES in July, 1998.

Each of us came to see and know Mark in our own ways. For it was his multidimensionality along with his infectious optimism and genuine respect for each of us that made him a true leader. Mark was a visionary–ever forward looking –often going from one mountain top idea to the next. Naturally the rest of us were usually hacking through logistic jungles trying to catch up. And he knew that - but he always trusted the team.

Mark had a profound influence on me and now when confronted with a challenge, I often ask myself, “How would Mark do it?” Mark taught largely by example and I for one, learned that success is never an accident. It is always the result of thorough preparation, determined effort, and skilled execution. Mark had a genius for getting people to work together and for bringing out fresh ideas

from each of us. He taught us that programs should become beacons and that rather than fighting forces, we should use them. By example he showed us the importance of moving beyond crisis resolution. He showed us that we should coach instead of rescue, and that we should listen more and talk less. No one ever learns anything by talking.

Mark was a citizen of the world who fully understood how important it is to smile and enjoy each moment. He had a remarkable ability to see the big pictures and yet understand the hopes and needs of all of the folks who work on only one small part of any canvas, and to listen to each and to be their spokesperson. So since a legacy is what’s left when you’ve left, we are all part of Mark’s legacy. I think that he would like that.

To view past recipients’ video presentations on the web go to: www.pennstatehershey.org/web/phs/home/aboutus/young/archive

Upcoming EventsGHIG monthly talks email Anny Smucker: [email protected], or Christina Huang: [email protected] for more information.

Global Health Multi-Disciplinary Lessons from the Field: An inter-professional collaboration Date: April 26, 2011 Penn State HersheyJunker Auditorium and Anteroom4:30 pmLight dinner provided

May 5, 2011 America’s Healthcare What’s Right,

What’s WrongKey Note Speaker:Dr. Darrell KirchPresident and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges 4:00 PMLecture Room C

June 2, 2011 High Tech Health Location:Penn State Hershey Simulation CenterPenn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Including tour of the Simulation CenterReception hosted by: Penn State Hershey Simulation Center

World Affairs Council Event Schedule:The Penn State Global Health Center has recently collaborated with the World Affairs Council for a series of upcoming events. The World Affairs Council of Harrisburg is affiliated with the World Affairs Councils of America based in Washington, D.C. It is dedicated to educating and engaging the residents of our region in global issues. For more information: http://www.wacharrisburg.org/

About Mark J. Young continued

The Caduceus Fund at the Derry

Presbyterian Church was established

in 2009 under the Mission and Peace

Committee with the goal of providing

partial support for medical students

who are participating in elective medical

experiences in developing countries. A

growing number of our medical students

are seeking opportunities to serve in health

clinics in Central and South America,

Africa, and Asia where they are exposed

to the health problems associated with

extreme poverty, where they learn about

tropical medicine and participate in clinical

research, and where they can serve by

providing health and nutrition education.

The Global Health Program at the College

of Medicine prepares medical students for

this experience.

Since the summer of 2009 the Caduceus

Fund has provided partial support enabling

10 students to spend 1-2 months in India,

Bolivia, Ecuador and Panama.

The following statements from students

who have been supported by the Caduceus

Fund best express the value of this program.

“I knew before arriving in Ecuador that the

town of San Pablo would be poor. But only

after witnessing firsthand the poverty and

utter lack of education did the situation become

real. I was constantly in awe of the warmth

and hospitality of people who lack so much!

Engaging the local people in the intimacy of

their own homes through a household survey

that I was conducting and visiting children in

schools proved to be the best way to befriend

the community. Locals often approached me on

the street and offered to walk with me a while;

I was hugged, my cheeks were kissed, and my

hands were vigorously shaken. Working in the

medical clinics and conducting my research

project enhanced my understanding of health

in the community, so that, upon returning to

San Pablo as a senior student, I will be able

to implement a carefully planned and relevant

public health initiative. The genuine gratitude

and excitement expressed by the people of San

Pablo provided for a heartwarming experience

that greatly strengthened my dedication to

improve the quality and access to health care

for those who need it most, both at home and

abroad.” Laura Young, MS class of 2013

“Before I left the States for India, I knew that

I was going to see things that I would never

experience back home, like widespread abject

poverty, poor sanitation, malnutrition, and

gender inequality. Nothing could have prepared

me for my studies at the Comprehensive Rural

Health Project in Central India. There was

no way to anticipate the beauty, kindness and

generosity the villagers of rural Maharashtra

have shown me. Learning from the village

Health Workers and the doctors of the CHRP

has reinforced my core values and goals:

to provide affordable access to appropriate

healthcare, adequate nutrition and health care

education as a physician who works alongside

communities both in developing countries and

back home in the States.”

Laura Spece, M.S., Class of 2012

The Caduceus Fund at the Derry Presbyterian Church andThe Global Health Program at the Penn State College of Medicine

The Center provides organization and oversight for the medical center’s educational, service, and community research activities in global health. The Center is responsible for promoting global health issues on campus.

If you would like to contribute to the quarterly newsletter or the, please contact the Global Health Center ([email protected]). If you are not receiving this publication but would like to be added to the list, please send an email to [email protected]

Director of Penn State College of Medicine’s Global Health Center:N. Benjamin Fredrick, MD, Family and Community Medicine

Student Global Health Newsletter Co-Editors: Christina Huang, Class of 2013, Sarah Smith, Class of 2014Global Health Center Advisory Board:Elizabeth Bates, BS DN (Nursing) Gordon Kauffmann, MD (Surgery) Dennis Gingrich, MD (Fam Med) Eugene Lengerich, VMD (Public Health) Brandt Groh, MD (Pediatrics) Philip Wilson, PhD (Humanities)Alawia Suliman, MD (Pediatrics) Graham Jeffries, M.D. (Medicine)

On the Web: http://www.pennstatehershey.org/globalhealthcenter

How to Donate to The Global Health Center Scholarship FundIf you are interested in donating to the Global Health Center Scholarships you can:1. Send a check to the Penn State University Global Health Center2. Go to the Give Penn State fund on the web at giveto.psu.edu3. Contact Devon Johnson to set up your own scholarship at [email protected]