International Emergency Medicine and Global Health
Fellowship
at the
University of Illinois-Chicago
Program Description
Overview
The University of Illinois is the first institution that introduced a fellowship in International
Emergency Medicine with the aim to provide training for expertise in management of
international emergency medicine and health related issues. The field itself developed out
of a desire to extend available resources in leadership and experience to locations and
situations that lacked the infrastructure or organization to address emergent health
conditions. The role of international emergency medicine and international health as a
specialty continues to expand, as the world evolves into a more global society.
Mission
International Emergency Medicine and Global Health at the University of Illinois seeks to
engage in sustainable development of global humanitarian and emergency care efforts.
The program strives to provide an environment that supports efforts in humanitarian
assistance, encourages development of further initiatives in international health and
emergency care systems, and provides leadership and leadership opportunities to effectively
administer such programs.
Fellowship Goals
1. Comprehensive application of clinical emergency medicine concepts and skills in
international health.
2. Understand and apply the concepts of sustainability and capacity building in
international emergency medicine and global health.
3. Develop the ability to assess international health systems and emergency medical
care systems and identify pertinent health issues to aid in design of health programs
that address identified needs.
4. Develop the knowledge to evaluate the effectiveness and quality of international
health programs.
5. Establish network and skills for educational exchange, research, and funding.
6. Develop administrative skills to organize and implement emergency and/or
international health programs abroad and integrate them into existing health systems.
General scope of program
Field programs
Disaster preparedness local and international
International emergency medicine curriculum development
Health system empowerment
Primary health care access in resource poor areas
Public health institution and rural hospital issues
Humanitarian aid and relief work
Medical mission trips, i.e. Latin America, Africa
NGO, self-initiated programs, program directorships
Collaborative efforts with other fellowship programs
Research and academics (examples)
Disaster risk reduction and triage systems
Demographics and health
Health education interventions
Health promotion
Healthcare access and healthcare delivery strategies
Tropical Infectious Diseases, HIV, TB
Situational reports, executive summaries
Assessment, evaluation, and implementation of programs
Case reports, case studies
Exploratory design and research
Educational programs
Fellowship, residency, medical students, and public health
Fellowship structure
Training in the fellowship will allow the fellow to tailor their experience based on individual
interest while providing a foundation for work in international emergency medicine and
global health. Areas of focus may include health system development, EMS system
development, human capacity development, disaster response, complex emergencies,
humanitarian relief, global public health.
The structure of the fellowship is primarily divided into six general areas:
1. Clinical: The fellow will work as clinical faculty in the Emergency Department at a
University of Illinois teaching hospital. Additionally, the fellow may work clinically
at a UIC-affiliated critical access hospital. The fellow will be responsible for clinical
work in the ED, as well as conference and/or grand round presentations.
a. Responsibility: 16 hours per week over a one-year period for two years. (~8
shifts per month)
b. Serve as teaching faculty for health professionals, residents and medical
students rotating in the Emergency Department.
c. Exposure to health issues from a clinical and health delivery perspective.
d. Understand immigrant and urban populations and motivations for seeking
care and challenges in navigating the U.S. health system at an academic and
associated critical access hospitals.
2. International fieldwork: The fellow will be working abroad on international health
projects. The international experiences are generally arranged by the fellow, with
supervision of the fellowship director. These experiences will comprise of
assessment and evaluation research, provision of basic health care/conducting
interventions, implementation of new training curriculum in different countries,
disaster or public health response. It is expected that the fellow will be able to
generate, at minimum, a report from each project/trip. Depending upon coursework
and clinical work responsibilities, the fellow may have up to 4-5 months of
international experience.
a. Fieldwork length varies from 10 days to 6 weeks.
b. Practical experience to develop skills as a public health researcher and/or
expert in global health issues.
c. Exposure to different aspects of conducting work and research in an
international setting: from planning and coordination with organizations to
communication and understanding cultural and regional influences.
d. Exposure to diseases that are not commonly seen in developed countries and
various health systems and structures.
3. Didactic: The fellow during the course of the program will get exposure to the
public health issues related to practice and international health through obtaining a
masters degree in Public Health at the University of Illinois School of Public Health.
The fellow will be responsible for the application to the Professional Enhancement
Program through the school. In addition, the fellow will attend external courses
specific to international health, including parasitology and health issues related to
displaced populations.
a. Obtain an advanced degree in public health.
b. Supplement course work with specific courses dealing with large
populations, i.e. refugee populations and complex humanitarian situations.
i. Health Emergencies in Large Populations, a multidisciplinary and
multicultural course given partnership with WHO, ICRC and
academic institutions.
c. Supplement course work with specific courses in tropical diseases, i.e.
parasitology and epidemiology of tropical diseases.
i. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Distance Learning
Program: Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases in
Developing Countries (IDM301)
4. Research: Each fellow is required to become involved in some aspect of a research
project during the program. It is expected that each fellow will produce an article of
quality to be submitted to a peer-reviewed publication by the end of the fellowship.
Collaboration is encouraged with other institutions and/or other departments.
Incorporated within the research arm is exposure to grant writing and aspects of
obtaining funds for projects. The research experience includes international
conference attendance.
a. Understand aspects of conducting research and working in an academic
environment. This includes, but is not limited to:
i. Research design
ii. Conducting literature search relevant to project content
iii. Assessment, familiarization with various assessment tools,
conducting an assessment and/or intervention design
iv. Evaluation, exposure to post assessment evaluation of study
v. Data analysis, mixed methods research
vi. Manuscript preparation and writing
5. Administrative: The fellow will engage in administrative activity in the form of
organizing, planning, and implementing different aspects of projects. He/she will
also obtain experience through involvement with agencies or programs within other
institutions.
a. Acquire the leadership skills by leading a group of health care professionals
and students in an internationally focused project.
b. Learn skills and components needed to navigate the logistics required in
leading an international project.
c. Exposure to the organizational structure of agencies involved in humanitarian
or development programs globally.
6. Communication: Recognizing the importance of communication in working
globally, the fellow will demonstrate efforts towards a language proficiency in a
language of their choosing.
a. Learn the basic greetings in the country where work is conducted, as a
demonstration of a collaborative spirit.
b. Expose fellow to the issues and challenges of conducting research and work
in international settings, reliance on translation and limitations of translation.
Duration of fellowship
The fellowship is a two-year program which incorporates the advanced degree, clinical
emergency department responsibilities, and international field work. A one+ year
fellowship is possible for those that have already received their MPH degree at the
discretion of the fellowship director. Other lengths of duration can be considered on an
individual basis.
Additional activities
1. Academic Development and Professionalism Track (ADAPT): Within the
Department of Emergency Medicine, we have created a consortium of fellowship
programs, ADAPT, to convene the various fellowship programs with a goal to
provide a platform in which to enrich the fellows’ training experience and
development into an academic professional at UIC. Each fellow will be involved in
this endeavor.
a. ADAPT Purpose/Goals:
i. Introduce fellows to academic careers in medicine.
ii. Provide oversight for the clinical roles of fellows.
iii. Provide a forum to share knowledge and collaborate amongst various
subspecialties.
iv. Expose fellows in different programs to each other to promote
camaraderie.
b. Primary overall objectives:
i. Quarterly meetings convening all fellows and fellowship directors
ii. Provide core topics that apply to all fellowship programs. (Examples:
mentorship, research in progress, grant writing workshop, work life
balance, strategies for teaching and providing feedback)
iii. Establish an online module-based training program on conducting
research and scholarly activity that will be completed by all fellows
during their training.
2. Global Health Journal Club: The global health journal club is a joint effort of the
Departments of Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, OB/gyne, and Med/Peds,
involving Global Health fellows and residents. The Journal Club typically meets
quarterly and discusses global health literature than spans across these disciplines.
IEM fellows are required to identify and present selected articles once a year.
3. UIC Center for Global Health: The Center for Global Health (CGH) is a
multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary center that focuses on research, education,
and service that transcends national boundaries. IEM fellows may participate in
CGH activities including educational and research endeavors as well as CME
activities.
Appointment of fellows
Fellowships are awarded for a two-year period beginning on July 1st. Each fellow will
receive an appointment at the University of Illinois College of Medicine as clinical
instructor. The fellow will be responsible for 16 hours clinical and 4 hours non-clinical time
per week (see Clinical section above) and will be compensated according to that
appointment. Benefits, CME, international travel funds, advanced degree tuition are
included.
Evaluation
The fellowship director, along with the department of Emergency Medicine will annually
evaluate the fellowship curriculum as it relates to stated goals and objectives. Evaluation of
the fellows will occur on a biannual basis throughout the duration of the program.
Clinical performance in the Emergency Department will be conducted as per the department
guidelines. International fieldwork evaluation will be performed by the associated contacts.
In addition, we hold regular fellow meetings biweekly depending on clinical, didactic, and
travel schedule of the core fellowship group. This is an opportunity to provide immediate
feedback and a mechanism to ensure progress of the fellows’ program and achievement of
the core curriculum activities.
Collaborations
As the development of International Emergency Medicine continues, we emphasize the
cooperation with other institutions on projects and sharing of ideas. We work with various
NGOs and corporations in providing medical service advisorship and international
experiences. In addition, we work with several multi-disciplinary entities within the
University of Illinois and the surrounding community.
Initiatives
As an institution, we have active and current initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean,
East Africa, and India. However, we have programs in other countries throughout the
world. Past fellows have also conducted projects in other parts of Asia, Middle East, and
Eastern Europe.
Recent initiatives
Associacion de los Promotores de Salud San Marcos, NGO, rural Guatemala, indigenous
health promoters network. We have provided support in caring for patients, training health
promoters, legitimizing the role of the health promoter, and observing the development of
sustainable health centers in that region.
Global Emergency Care Collaborative and Karoli Lwanga Hospital, Uganda: emergency
care delivery and development of sustainable systems.
Engeye Health, Ddegeya Village, Uganda, NGO, providing medical care and overseeing
public health programming.
Delmas Mcdical Clinic and Delmas Mayor’s office: health care access, delivery of care, and
disaster preparedness
Grace Village and Carrefour local government, Haiti, improving health care access and
delivery
International Medical Corps, relief/humanitarian focused NGO, providing training and acute
disaster response.
Mision Fronteras, Lake Titicaca Binational region, Bolivia and Peru, building health care
infrastructure
Seva Mandir, India, NGO, improving health status in rural India
Laos and UIC, government medical center and clinical care.
Chang Mai University and UIC, collaborating college of medicine programs
Mwami, Zambia, local health care
FERNE, Foundation in education and research in neurological emergencies, Chile and
South America, involved in many international conferences.
Application
Interested candidates must be residency trained, board eligible/board certified in Emergency
Medicine. Candidates from other specialties or fields, i.e. Internal Medicine or Pediatrics,
Advanced Practice Nursing, may be considered. However, specific training in emergency
medical systems may be required during the course of the fellowship. Candidates should
have a strong desire to contribute to the field of international health. Deadline for
applications is October 1st, 2013. We will continue to review applications on a rolling basis.
Interviews will take place in October and early November, and offers will be made no
earlier than November 1st, or in accordance with IEM fellowship consortium guidelines.
Please send a letter of interest to the email/address below.
For full consideration, we require:
1. A brief personal statement,
2. A curriculum vitae, and
3. Three letters of recommendation
These can be submitted to the IEM fellowship consortium website,
www.iemfellowships.com.
For any technical difficulty, documents can also be sent to the email/address below:
Janet Lin, MD, MPH
Director, International Emergency Medicine Fellowship
Department of Emergency Medicine
808 S. Wood CME 470
Chicago, IL 60612
Office: 312-996-4160
Fax: 312-413-0289
Email: jlin7@uic.edu