Fellowships and Programs

Fellowships

Harvard Medical School Paul Farmer Global Surgery Fellowship

The Paul Farmer Global Surgery Fellowship, Obstetrics and Gynecology track was created by Boston Children’s Hospital in collaboration with Partners In Health and the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC) at Harvard Medical School. The purpose of the Fellowship is to train leaders who will further promote global obstetrics and gynecological care, education, research, and policy development within the field of global surgery in resource poor settings around the world. Fellows will also develop academic, policy, advocacy, and administrative skills in global surgery, public health, and surgical systems development.

The main focus of the Paul Farmer Global Surgery Fellowship, Obstetrics and Gynecology track curriculum revolves around education, research, and the provision of surgical care. Fellows are expected to work collaboratively and participate in the education and training of other residents and medical students that may be working as part of the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change.

Baylor College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Global Women’s Health Fellowship

The Baylor College of Medicine fellowship is intended to provide high quality patient care to women worldwide along with paradigm changing research programs and superior educational opportunities for health care providers in low resource settings. The two-year fellowship focuses on conditions such as maternal mortality, obstetric fistula, preterm birth, neglected tropical diseases, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, malnutrition and others that impact the health and well-being of women worldwide. Fellows will spend about 80 percent of their time living and working in Malawi with supervision by Baylor College of Medicine faculty and other experts in global women’s health.

Brigham and Women's Hospital Connors Center Global Women’s Health and Gender Biology Fellowship

The Connors Center Global Women’s Health Fellowship Award is a one-year mentored award program which enables clinical and research fellows and early-career clinical investigators to develop and apply research skills through a research project in the area of global women’s health. The program's aims are to train physicians for successful careers that further the health of women globally through innovative and meaningful research, elevate the visibility of the field of global women’s health, and promote research pertinent to the advancement of the health of women worldwide.

Fogarty International Center Global Health Program for Fellows and Scholars

The Fogarty's Global Health Program for Fellows and Scholars supports U.S. university consortia to provide collaborative, mentored global health research training opportunities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). (See The World Bank Country and Lending Groups to identify countries with low- and middle-income economies.) Individual students, postdoctoral fellows or faculty from the U.S. or from LMICs apply through the consortia below for placement at an LMIC institution for 12 months.

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Global Women’s Health Fellowship

The Global Women's Health Fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is a one-year fellowship that tackles the complex issues that shape the sexual and reproductive health of women across the globe. Working with the Global Health faculty at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and collaborating with faculty in Liberia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, and South Africa, our fellows are prepared to become dedicated and innovative drivers of global women’s health. Through service, education, and research, our fellowship is designed to help our fellows play a significant role in reducing the health disparities affecting women in developing countries.

Johns Hopkins Global Women's Health Fellowship

The Johns Hopkins Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics’ Global Women’s Health Fellowship Program is a two-year postgraduate training program addressing critical women’s health issues and sustainable health solutions in low- and middle-income countries. This interdisciplinary fellowship will pair an obstetrician–gynecologist physician with an advanced practice nurse for collaborative interprofessional learning and research. This program has a forward-thinking approach to global health that promotes learning and skill development through program implementation and evaluation to address a defined global health need and enact sustainable improvements in women’s health care. The goal is to prepare qualified obstetrician–gynecologists and nurses for leadership positions in global women’s health in order to improve care, education, and research for women and their families in the developing world.

Massachusetts General Hospital Global Health Innovations and Leadership Fellowship

The Global Health Innovation Laboratory Innovation has been offering a two-year global health fellowship for residency-trained physicians since July of 2006. Applications are welcomed from physicians in all specialties. One or two individuals are admitted annually. The fellowship's focus is to develop global health leaders in a particular area of concentration. The two-year training program includes a customized combination of field work, clinical participation at Mass General, and didactics such as advanced degrees in public health or public policy, tropical medicine and research mentorship. As part of the program, Fellows also complete degree or certificate programs in global health.

Global Surgery Program and Mount Sinai

The Global Surgery Program at Mount Sinai has contributed to the surgical needs of African countries for the more than eight years. We have brought desperately needed surgical supplies to Gambia, and we have established surgical programs in Liberia. In partnership with Liberia - Mission of Hope, Jeffrey Freed, MD, and a team of general surgeons, OB/GYNs, radiologists, anesthesiologist, nurses, residents and medical students from Mount Sinai spend two weeks providing surgical and perioperative care to patients at Phebe Hospital in Bong County, Liberia. Throughout the team’s two weeks on the ground, there are nine full days operating, completing approximately 90 surgical cases, such as colon and small bowel resections; hernia repairs; hysterectomies; c-sections; uterine prolapse repairs; and resection of malignant intra-abdominal, uterine, or ovarian tumors.

Additionally, the team works closely with local providers and students in many educational and capacity-building endeavors, including instructional lectures on advanced nursing care as well as x-ray and ultrasound technique. The mission is financed each year by the team’s own fundraising efforts, as well as generous donations of medical equipment and medication from outside groups.

The University of California, San Francisco HEAL Initiative Cohort

The HEAL (Health, Equity, Action & Leadership) Initiative trains frontline health professionals in some of the poorest and most isolated places on our planet. This is a two-year multidisciplinary initiative in which individuals spend six months in the Indian Health Service and six months at an international site. There is also opportunity for an advanced degree at University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley. The HEAL Initiative recruits highly qualified health professionals who have a deep commitment to health equity and social justice. We train those who have the desire to serve and equip them with the skills to be effective in low-resource settings.

The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Global Women’s Health Fellowship

This global health fellowship provides early career training for obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYNs) aspiring to an academic career in global women’s health. This research fellowship leverages the strengths of the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine, the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, and three established institutions in southern Africa.

Fellows spend two years at one of the affiliated sites: the University of Zambia Teaching Hospital (Lusaka, Zambia), UNC Project–Malawi (Lilongwe, Malawi), or the University of Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa). All are academically vibrant, with three-part missions of clinical research, service delivery, and training.

The Division of Global Women’s Health holds a robust portfolio of independently funded projects focused on clinical research, field epidemiology, and implementation science / program evaluation. Each site has full-time UNC OB-GYN faculty living in-country, providing administrative support and mentorship.

Fellows gain first-hand experience in the conduct of research, including study design and management, scientific writing, and cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration. For those who wish to complete graduate-level coursework, an optional third year of fellowship is also available. By the end of their training, our fellows are prepared for academic OB-GYN careers focused on global women’s health.

University Programs

Oregon Health & Science University

OHSU Footsteps to Healing has partnered with Mekelle University, Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, and the Worldwide Fistula Fund to launch the first urogynecology fellowship training program in Ethiopia and provide ongoing medical, surgical and research training for gynecologists and nurses. Other areas of collaboration with the College of Health Sciences at Mekelle University include:

Providing medical and surgical training for residents and faculty in the obstetrics and gynecology department at Ayder teaching hospital.
Collaborating in clinical research to improve the care of women.
Building health care capacity at Ayder teaching hospital in anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care, radiology, internal medicine, hospital management, biomedical engineering and more.

University of Illinois at Chicago Global Women’s Health Fellowship

The UIC Global Women’s Health Fellowship is a two-year program that provides a unique opportunity for an obstetrician/gynecologist (OB/GYN) to dig into critical health issues affecting women worldwide and sustainably collaborate in implementing solutions in low and middle income countries. In this fellowship, we will provide mentorship, opportunities and resources for the fellow to develop educational initiatives, improve clinical services, and lead clinical research in global women’s reproductive and gynecologic health. With 50% of the fellow’s time dedicated to Global Women’s Health activities and 50% of their time as an active clinical faculty member, fellows are encouraged to utilize collaborations within the UIC community, such as Center for Global Health, School of Public Health, School of Nursing, Department of Anthropology, and have opportunity to develop relationships with international governmental and non-governmental organizations in order to perform effective global women’s health work. Clinical international field work is based at Ayder Referral Hospital and Mekelle Hospital in Ethiopia as part of UIC Department of OB/GYN’s longstanding relationship with Mekelle University and the program offers a powerful platform for fellows to build strong relationships across Ethiopia.

University of Michigan Health System

More than 10 schools and colleges across the University of Michigan have collaborative projects underway with colleagues in Ethiopia. The partnership with the University of Michigan has helped to initiate a competency-based obstetrics and gynecology residency program that focuses on developing the skills, knowledge, and leadership ability of residents through exposure to a wealth of national and international expertise. It also helps to build faculty capabilities through development of teaching and leadership skills and increased connectivity with the international academic community.

University of Wisconsin, Madison

The Global Health Institute was established in order to advance equitable and sustainable health across the world. Activities included in the initiative, such as bidirectional exchanges of physicians and nurses and the development of emergency medicine fellowship training programs, have contributed to increased knowledge and abilities among Ethiopian health professionals. Training local instructors to deliver high-quality care and pass their skills onto others has been instrumental to the sustainability and success of this program.