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Pediatrics Residency

Global Health

Due to COVID some programs may be temporarily on hold.

The USF Health Florida Pediatric Residency Program has a growing focus on global child health. The program offers an increasing number of exciting and diverse global health electives, core curriculum lectures as outlined by the American Board of Pediatrics, and opportunities for research and quality improvement work for those interested in a career in global health.

All participating residents will receive detailed educational experiences unique to global health, including pre-departure and post-departure mentorship, along with site-specific lectures, goals, and objectives. We have several faculty members dedicated to the growth of the global health program.

Despite the pandemic, we have continued to offer a variety of experiences in global health. These include:

Local global health experiences include a Pediatric Refugee Health Clinic through USF Tampa Bay Street Medicine and a pediatric Refugee Mentorship Program through Gulfcoast JFCS.

All in all, I can sum the trip in one word - amazing! The trip was incredibly well-organized; we didn't have to worry about any detail except learning and experiencing the hospitals and culture.

The Global Health Experience

Panama Global Health Experience

Panama

With public health officials, residents visit Panama's premier medical research facility to learn about the history and current status of the health care system in Panama. Residents spend several days at a rural hospital in a remote location and provide outreach medical care among the indigenous people. In addition, residents travel to Panama City and visit the Hospital del Niño. Thus, the residents gain exposure and education about all levels of the medical system within this developing country. In addition to the medical components of the trip, there are several cultural experiences such as a day trip through the rainforest with the Embera Indians, a guided tour of the old city, a visit to a Panamanian coffee plantation, and the Panama Canal.

Dominican Republic Global Health Experience

Dominican Republic

Since 1999, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine has provided care for a community in the medically underserved rural region of Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. Every year, a team run by medical students and supported by faculty and other ancillary volunteer staff serves thousands of adult and pediatric patients by providing medical evaluations, medications, dental and fluoride treatments, and even water filtration systems to communities in need.

Colombia Global Health Experience

Colombia

USF Health International has an exciting bidirectional partnership with CES University in Medellín, Colombia. The city has a population of 2.5 million, and has 8 of the best hospitals in Latin America. Opportunities include a pediatric wards rotation throughout the Hospital General de Medellín. Here, residents can learn about various pediatric pathologies that may affect low-middle income countries such as malnutrition and tropical diseases such as Dengue, Malaria, Zika, etc. CES offers other rotation opportunities at various sites, that include Pediatric ICU, Neonatal ICU, Infectious Disease and more.

Global Health Fellowship through USF Health

USF Health plans to support governments in building the future generation of a health workforce that is committed to improving the health of resource-deprived communities. Through a year-round global health faculty stationed at a partner site, USF Health will equip the local health workforce with the capacity and skills to deliver high quality, patient-centered care.

The fellowship is for two years and is open to all physicians who are US-board certified (BC) or board eligible (BE) and have completed a residency in internal medicine, family medicine, emergency medicine, pediatrics, or obstetrics/gynecology.

Our first location to establish this joint research and clinical program will be in Africa. Specifically, we identified the Ugandan Viral Research Institute (UVRI) in Entebbe, Uganda as the most promising initial research partner and the Entebbe Government Hospital in Entebbe, Uganda as the initial clinical partner. These institutes have a reputation of conducting high-quality basic science research, a strong relationship with their local COMAHS and clinical teaching facilities, and network with the African Academy of Science.

For more information contact:

Dr. Asa Oxner
Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency
aoxner@usf.edu&

Dr. Shaila Siraj
Associate Program Director, Director of Global Health Education
ssiraj@usf.edu