Global Health Track

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Global health is an important component of general pediatrics residency training. Geopolitical boundaries do not circumscribe health issues and nowhere is this more obvious than in Los Angeles.

At Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), we serve immigrant and migrant families who cannot be separated from the diseases and social determinants of health that they bring from their native countries. In many ways, each day in the wards or clinics is a class in global health. However, global health is a discipline unto itself.

The Global Health Track offers a unique opportunity for residents to work on the front lines of global pediatric clinical care. The Division of Infectious Diseases, with combined efforts by General Pediatrics, has established partnerships with local and international institutions and faculty to meet resident needs and interests.

Why Global Health Training?

  • There is a growing awareness of health care disparities, especially in pediatric populations
  • Unacceptably high mortality rates in children less than five years of age are from largely preventable causes
  • Physicians in developed countries are now expected to have a broader knowledge of tropical and newly emerging diseases, and to maintain cross-cultural sensitivity to the growing number of international travelers and ethnic minority populations
  • To develop research, analytical and program building skills to achieve equity in health for people worldwide

Program Goals

  • Increase knowledge of the epidemiology, disease processes and management of key diagnoses with significant health impact in developing world countries
  • Challenge residents to critically investigate the economic, social and political challenges affecting health care delivery across varied resource-limited settings
  • Teach research framework for integration into current and future global health endeavors
  • Provide short-term and longitudinal experiences for residents to envision and incorporate global health into their future career plans

Track Curriculum

  • Formal didactics in core global health topics
  • Learning modules with one-on-one Children's Hospital and USC faculty discussions
  • Research curriculum including epidemiology, statistics, grant and manuscript writing, and ethics education as part of the IMPACT core curriculum
  • Lectures and trainee sessions with international visiting professors

Part 1: Modules

  1. Global burden of disease
  2. Child survival
  3. Global health priority setting
  4. Global health systems and economics
  5. Major players in global health
  6. Social determinants of health
  7. Practical barriers to implementing global health
  8. Research and epidemiology

Part 2: Modules

  1. Maternal and child health
  2. Nutrition
  3. Health of immigrant and refugee children
  4. Environmental health in resource-limited settings
  5. Injury prevention
  6. Global child advocacy
  7. Preparation for an international rotation

Part 3: Hands-on Workshops and Lectures

  1. Care for children during international disasters
  2. Vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases
  3. HIV/AIDS
  4. Tuberculosis
  5. Diarrheal illnesses
  6. Parasitology
  7. Malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases
  8. Non-communicable diseases (sickle cell, leukemia, diabetes, etc.)

Longitudinal Research Project

  • Projects can be research, educational or intervention-focused in scope.
  • Residents will work with a CHLA or USC faculty mentor to plan the rotation and develop goals and expectations.
  • Residents are encouraged to partner with faculty and non-governmental organizations who are already doing work in the country.
  • A minimum of one clinical or research rotation internationally during the PL-2 or PL-3 year is required.
  • Residents are required to present an abstract at the annual Saban Research Institute Poster Session.
  • Residents are strongly encouraged to submit abstracts to major conferences and write a manuscript for publication.

Track Leads

Alex Van Speybroeck, MD, MPH

Sarah White, MD

Additional Partners

USC Global Health Program

For more information on global health, visit the USC Global Health website.