Global Health Going Forward

Faculty Survey Completed

The Global Health Activities and Interests Survey, disseminated to all health institution faculty in May, marked the first-ever effort to gain a comprehensive picture of the global projects already ongoing on the health campuses.

The data collected will feed into a database (presently being developed) of current faculty activities related to international projects, collaborations, courses, or programs. This database will serve as a searchable tool to improve networking, information dissemination, and collaboration between the health campuses and international partners and as a resource tool for students wanting to gain specific training overseas. It will also serve as a guidepost for developing new opportunities that might fill gaps in current offerings across the System.

 

Students Gain Clinical Experience, More in Rural Nicaragua

For the 14th consecutive year, students from UTMB participated in an elective course, “Introduction to Primary Health Care in Developing Countries”, which includes travel and clinical experience in rural Nicaragua. This year’s team, led by Dr. Janice Smith, included 10 medical students and 3 occupational therapy students from UTMB and 3 dental students from UT Dental Branch in Houston. Following several days of preparatory seminars and workshops, the team of 30 volunteers traveled to Mulukuku, which is located in the interior of Nicaragua, reached only after long hours on a hot, dusty, bumpy road.

The clinic, which was founded and is still run by a local women’s cooperative, has been serving the people of this region since 1990. While their work has focused on women’s health e.g. family planning, safe pregnancies and births, and cervical cancer screening, until recently they were the only source of medical care in this remote region which still suffers the effects of the Sandinista/Contra war. 

Medical and dental brigades such as the one from Galveston supplement the care given by the cooperative’s staff, and focus now on reaching people in much more remote satellite communities. This means daily travel in the back of a cattle truck to and from these remote sites, working in people’s homes, churches, or community buildings, without the benefit of electricity or running water, not to mention any diagnostic equipment other than a stethoscope and headlamp. But in spite of the obvious limitations, students and faculty, working with the local Nicaraguan staff, provided medical and dental care to over 1,800 patients in nine days of clinic visits.

For the medical students, it was their first opportunity to use the skills they had learned in first year, and they loved the chance to interact with real patients. The occupational therapy students made housecalls, observing how women do their daily work and devising alternatives to decrease the amount of physical stress on their bodies which contributes to a lot of musculoskeletal complaints.  The dental students were the real heroes, though, providing relief for several hundred children and adults suffering from severe dental decay and pain.

Participants in this elective come away not only with improved clinical and cultural skills, but also a broader world view, a better understanding of the complexities involved in  addressing global health issues, and a new perspective and interest in the health of underserved populations within their own communities. At the same time, they are providing invaluable care to people in need. What could be more satisfying?

 

Good News on Some of Our Biggest Challenges: Health, Safety, and Liability

We are building and organizing more and more programs and activities abroad. More and more students and faculty are participating. The array of activities is becoming ever more diverse, as are the geographic locations in which they take place. This is a good thing. But as our global footprint expands so too does our exposure to certain risks.

This summer already has seen multiple evacuations of students and faculty from overseas sites. It is essential that we learn from the challenges we face and that we continue to refine policies and improve practices related to health and safety. Here are a few of the ways we are working to address this set of issues:

• Bill Hoye, National Health and Safety Expert, to Conduct Fall Global Initiative Workshop
• New Study Abroad Health Insurance Guidelines
• How Can I Do That...Over There? Building A Better Global Operations Infrastructure
• H1N1 in Thailand: A Success Story

 

Bill Hoye, National Health and Safety Expert, to Conduct Fall Global Initiative Workshop

The Global Initiative is extremely pleased to welcome Bill Hoye for an afternoon workshop on health, safety, and institutional liability issues on Tuesday, October 6. Please mark your calendars and make plans to attend.

Bill is widely considered to be the foremost national authority on institutional risk and international programs. He is the author of the book Understanding and Managing the Risks of Short-Term International Programs, as well as dozens of law review articles. He serves as editor of the Journal of College and University Law. He is a frequent presenter at meetings of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. And he has been a visiting fellow at the Oxford Centre of Higher Education Policy Studies at New College, Oxford.

Presently, Bill serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at IES Abroad in Chicago, one of the nation’s oldest non-for-profit study abroad providers. Prior to joining IES Abroad, Bill served for more than a decade as associate vice president and deputy general counsel at the University of Notre Dame, where he also was associate professor of law, teaching courses on legal ethics, trial advocacy, and dispute resolution. While at Notre Dame, Bill chaired the University’s Risk Assessment Committee, a campus-wide body dedicated to the identification, assessment, management, and mitigation of risk.

The workshop will be interactive and allow plenty of opportunity for questions, answers, and discussion.

New Study Abroad Health Insurance Guidelines

The recent feature story in USA Today, “Students Abroad and Alone,” reminds us once again that the health and safety of students and faculty must remain our foremost concern. With that in mind, the UT System recently reviewed health insurance coverage options for study abroad participants. The resulting guidelines are now posted on the Global Initiative webpage. The guidelines and the new United Healthcare study abroad policy are the culmination of national benchmark study conducted by the UT System.

How Can I Do That...Over There?  Building A Better Global Operations Infrastructure

While health and safety concerns are paramount, they are not the only challenges we confront. As our institutions become more active internationally, myriad questions arise: The tax and visa implications of hiring faculty who will live and work outside of the U.S., leasing and managing property overseas, field advances for faculty conducting activities overseas, and so on. These challenges are not going away. In fact, the opposite is true: we will face them with increasing frequency.

Our institutions must be able to operate effectively internationally while maintaining appropriate safeguards, sound business procedures, and adherence to relevant laws. Other universities are grappling with the same set of issues as they try to keep international projects running smoothly. The University of Washington’s Global Support Project has been widely cited as a model for addressing the complexities of doing business overseas in a university setting.

An ad-hoc committee from UT campuses and the System has begun to look at leading approaches and to examine ways to strengthen our global operations infrastructure. I look forward to discussing these efforts with you as they take shape. For those of you with an interest in this area, the Educational Advisory Board presents a survey of current practices in “Global Operations Support for Faculty Working Abroad:  A Review of the Current Landscape” (for members only).

H1N1 in Thailand:  A Success Story

The H1N1 outbreak forced a group of UTSA students and faculty to return from Thailand early when some members of the group tested positive for the virus. But the evacuation of the UTSA summer program in Thailand serves as a positive model in several respects. There were clear lines of communication between in-country faculty and the leadership and support services on the home campus. All students had international health insurance coverage. There was early consultation with the UT System to help think through contingencies pertaining to returning to campus, engaging International SOS, and what types of fee considerations or accommodations for the group were available through the airlines. There also was continuous, 24/7 monitoring of the situation by key UTSA staff, with written and updated reports circulated to all relevant campus and System personnel.

It is, of course, extremely unfortunate whenever a program is cut short. But all UTSA students and faculty returned to campus safely and without unnecessary delay or additional frustration. Seen in the proper light, the evacuation of the UTSA program in Thailand is more a story about what went right than what went wrong. Thoughtful planning, good procedures, open communication, and a dedicated team accounted for a successful outcome in a difficult situation.

As this incident demonstrates, responding to difficulties overseas often requires communication and coordination with several offices within the institution, as well as with UT System—particularly, Risk Management, Global Initiatives, Office of General Counsel, and Travel Services.

I welcome the opportunity to continue to consult with you as you review your health and safety policies. Our mutual commitment to collectively addressing these international student health and safety challenges will help to ensure more potentially bad stories have good endings.

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Announcements and Congratulations

We are planning a meeting for faculty and staff from all UT System institutions to discuss a range of issues related to international education. The meeting will be held during the NAFSA: Region III Conference in Dallas, October 26-29. Details and a meeting agenda will follow shortly. Thanks to all of you who expressed an interest in getting together in conjunction with this regional meeting.

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UTSA presented the results of an evaluation study conducted by its Internationalization Task Force at the APLU’s Commission on International Programs Summer Meeting.

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Summer study abroad programs at UT Brownsville offer students a new view of the world and their place in it. Read the profile in the Brownsville Herald

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UT Dallas hosts ten undergraduates from Mexico for the summer. Each student, under the direction of a faculty mentor, will complete a research project ending with a written report and public presentation. Read the news release.