MOUNT SINAI GLOBAL HEALTH
MENTORING AND SECURITY PLAN FOR FACULTY AND TRAINEES ON GLOBAL HEALTH TRAVEL
Each year Mount Sinai School of Medicine sends scores of trainees and faculty on medical field
projects around the world to some of the globe’s most medically underserved places – Africa,
India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, China and disadvantaged areas of the United States. In
2011 we sent 60 faculty, 40 students, 60 residents and 25 other professionals (nurses,
respiratory technicians, social workers) on field projects to more than 20 countries.
In these field projects, our trainees and faculty conduct research in partnership with local
communities that improve public health and bedside medicine. They provide direct medical and
surgical care. In collaboration with local institutions, they build health care capacity in countries
with too little capacity by training doctors, nurses and community health workers.
Our trainees and faculty have grown through this work to become better doctors and better
people. Their perspectives have been broadened and their lives forever changed. Through their
service they have strengthened Mount Sinai’s reputation for excellence and altruism.
Goals. Three paramount goals of Mount Sinai’s global health program are:
1. To provide expert, personalized mentoring that will enable every faculty member and
trainee who embarks on a global health field project to successfully undertake, evaluate
and disseminate findings from their work;
2. To keep every trainee and faculty member safe and healthy ; and
3. To uphold the reputation of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine by ensuring that
trainees and faculty adhere to all appropriate rules of conduct and demonstrate
professional behavior.
Definition. Global health field projects are defined as travel taken by Mount Sinai faculty and
trainees to underserved communities in the United States and around the world to:
 Undertake research;
 Deliver patient care; or
 Provide professional education.
Travel to professional meetings, visiting professorships, other professional exchanges and
recreational travel are not considered Global Health field projects.
The Office of the Dean for Global Health can advise in cases when there is uncertainty whether a
particular trip should be considered a global health field project. For questions, please contact
Elena.Rahona@mssm.edu.
Scope. This policy pertains to all trainees – medical and graduate students, residents, and
fellows - and to all full-time and voluntary faculty who participate in global health field projects.
The policy pertains to all global health travel regardless of sponsoring agency.
Tracking. Accurate information on all global health field projects that are in preparation and in
the field is a fundamental prerequisite to providing appropriate mentoring and security.
To obtain this information, Mount Sinai Global Health has established a requirement that all
faculty and trainees planning to go on a field project overseas or within the US - regardless of
sponsoring agency -must register each project in advance with Mount Sinai Global Health
through our Travel Registry. This Travel Registry is currently paper-based but will shortly be online. Faculty and trainees must complete a brief survey for each field trip that details the scope
of the planned project and identifies the mentors both at Mount Sinai and the field site. This
requirement pertains to trainees at every level, to full-time faculty and to voluntary faculty.
Notice of this requirement for advance registration along with a survey questionnaire seeking
information on current and planned field projects was launched via memo from Drs. Charney
and Landrigan to all Department Chairs and Institute Directors across Mount Sinai on September
1, 2011. All Department Chairs and Institute Directors have now responded to this September 1
memo. The survey will continue on an ongoing basis as each upcoming project is registered.
Data on every project collected through this ongoing survey will be made available (password
protected) to all relevant parties including Mount Sinai Global Health, Office of the Dean, the
Office of the President, Legal, and Risk Management as soon as our website has been upgraded.
This information will also be added to the interactive map of the world on our web site that
displays all of the location around the world where Mount Sinai Global Health is active.
Proposals. A key element of this mentoring and security plan is a requirement that every Global
Health field project have a brief proposal in place prior to the travel that describes goals and
objectives, identifies the mentor(s), describes the scope of the work and presents a plan for
evaluation and dissemination of results.
Each proposal must be reviewed and approved by the Dean for Global Health in advance of each
field project. If the Dean for Global Health determines that a project is scientifically or medically
unsound, unsafe or unlikely to uphold the reputation of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the
Dean may cancel the field project.
Student Applications. First and second-year medical students and MPH students who wish to
participate in global health field projects generally do not submit their own independent
proposals. Instead they complete an application to Mount Sinai Global Health in which they
request to be assigned to a mentored project at a Mount Sinai Global Health partner site that
has already been designed and is overseen by Mount Sinai faculty in conjunction with local
partners. Medical students submit their applications during their first year of medical school,
and MPH students do so prior to beginning their MPH practicum. The process is competitive,
and only the best students with the most meritorious proposals are selected for participation.
Third and fourth year medical students who wish to perform clinical electives overseas are able
to do so without participating in the formal match process, as they are generally going to clinical
sites (such as teaching hospitals) that are already prepared to receive visiting students and have
local mentors in place. In order to receive credit for such electives, each student must submit an
application to Mount Sinai Global Health, detailing what will be their clinical responsibilities in
their electives and identifying their local mentors and supervisors.
All of these proposals are reviewed by the Dean for Global Health. If the Dean for Global Health
determines that a proposed elective is scientifically or medically unsound, unsafe or unlikely to
uphold the reputation of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the Dean may cancel the elective.
Residents who participate in the Global Health Residency Track are placed in a global health
field project at one of our partner sites under the supervision of both Mount Sinai and local
mentors. In special cases, residents can submit a proposal to conduct a field project at a nonpartner site, which they then develop with careful oversight by both a Mount Sinai and local
mentor. All proposals to conduct a field project at a non-partner site must be reviewed and
approved by the Dean for Global Health.
Preparation and Mentoring. We have developed a menu of preparatory courses at several
levels to prepare faculty and trainees for Global Health field projects and to mentor them
throughout the course of their projects:
 At a minimum, all trainees and full-time and voluntary faculty who are planning to
embark on a global health field project are required to receive a Safety and Security
briefing and pass a brief test prior to leaving Mount Sinai. Certification gained through
this process will be valid for 4 years. Topics covered include country-specific health
issues, cultural sensitivity, personal safety and security, as well as expectations for
professionalism an appropriate behavior including substance use and possession,
workplace etiquette, and engagement in sexual activity. We are considering the
possibility of creating a short video that will be linked to the Travel Registry. All
travelers will be required to attest in writing to having completed this course.
 To prepare medical students, MPH students and residents for global health field
projects, we have developed a 12-week MPH-level course titled, "Preparation for Global
Health Field Work" that is held each year. This course is mandatory for students and
residents in the Global Health tracks.
 The most extensive course work in global health is provided through the Global Health
Track of the MPH program and consists of a series of courses dealing with multiple
aspects of global health:
http://www.mssm.edu/static_files/MSSM/Files/Education/Graduate%20School/Degree
%20Programs/MPH%20Program/Global%20HlthTrack%20Checklist%20July%202011.pdf
This level of preparation is recommended for every trainee who is seriously considering
a career in global health, and it provides trainees with the essential in-depth skills that
are needed to practice global health. The degree is a core component of our Global
Health Fellowship programs and our Global Health Medicine Pediatrics Residency
training.
Pre-Trip Preparation Checklist and Affidavit. A key element of pre-travel preparation is a
requirement that every faculty member and trainee must complete a checklist through the
Travel Registry Form and sign an affidavit prior to departure for each Global Health field project
attesting that have properly prepared for the project, that they have a mentor and mentoring
plan in place, that they have completed Safety and Security briefing and passed the test, and
that they will adhere to all appropriate standards of professional conduct while on the field
project. Specifics are the following:
 Every faculty member and trainee must complete and sign an attestation that they have
taken required preparatory course-work (See preceding section)
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Every junior faculty member and trainee must identify their mentor and a present a
brief description of their mentoring plan (see next section).
Mount Sinai mentors are required as a component of the checklist to review Release of
Liability and Trainee Expectation forms and pre-trip preparation checklists with each of
their mentees. Mentor and mentee must each sign the form indicating that they have
undertaken this review prior to departing on each field project.
Mentees must as a component of the checklist sign the Release of Liability form which
includes an attestation that they will adhere to all appropriate standards of professional
conduct while on the field project.
As soon as our Global Health website is updated (see section below on IT Development), it will
be possible to complete the checklist and sign these affidavits electronically.
Assignment of Mentors and Development of Mentoring Plan. Every Mount Sinai junior faculty
member and trainee who embarks on a global health field project must have mentors at Mount
Sinai and also at the field site and a mentoring plan:
 Every Mount Sinai faculty member and trainee on a Global Health field project must
have a Mount Sinai mentor who is approved by the Dean for Global Health. The mentor
should have been identified and the mentoring plan developed during preparation of
the proposal (see above)
 Additionally, all Mount Sinai Global Health trainees are required to have an on-site
mentor at the field location who is responsible for supervision while in the field and who
has been approved by the Dean for Global Health. These mentors will have been
approved during On-Site Assessments of each site (see next section).
 Global Health Residents working in a clinical capacity at clinically-based sites must have
a local attending supervisor who has been approved by the Dean for Global Health.
These mentors will have been approved during On-Site Assessments of each site (see
next section).
On-Site Assessment. It is an absolute requirement that members of the faculty of Mount Sinai
Global Health regularly visit and/or fully assess each proposed field location in terms of its
suitability for mentoring as well as for safety. All proposed sites will be reviewed by the Mount
Sinai Global Health Faculty and ultimately approved by the Dean for Global Health after
assessment. During field assessments, local mentors will be identified and assessed, and the
strengths and weaknesses of each location will be catalogued and updated.
Security. Elements of the security plan are closely interwoven with the mentoring plan and are
described in detail above. The following recapitulates key elements of the security plan that are
linked to mentoring:
 All faculty and trainees must register each global health field project in advance through
Mount Sinai Global Health. This will be done through the Travel Registry. Data on each
project will be made accessible (password protected) to all relevant parties to include
Mount Sinai Global Health, the Office of the Dean, Office of the President, Risk
Management, and Legal, as soon as our website has been updated. This passwordprotected web site will enable real-time tracking of each Global Health field project.
 All trainees must receive Safety and Security briefings either in-person or on-line prior to
leaving Mount Sinai for their projects. Topics covered include health issues, cultural
sensitivity, personal safety and security, as well as expectations for professionalism to
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include substance use and possession, workplace etiquette, and engagement in sexual
activity.
All faulty and trainees involved in each global health field project must complete a
check list and sign affidavits indicating that they have complied with all required
preparation steps prior to departure.
All trainees and all faculty - whether full-time or voluntary – involved in Global Health
field projects are required to abide by the policies outlined in this document and by the
standards of professional behavior detailed in the Mount Sinai Faculty handbook:
http://www.mssm.edu/static_files/MSSM/Files/About%20Us/Services%20and%20Reso
urces/Faculty%20Resources/Handbooks%20and%20Policies/Faculty%20Handbook/Facu
ltyHandbook.pdf.
In addition to the above aspects of the security plan that are embedded in the mentoring plan,
we have established the following further safeguards:
 All trainees, faculty, and staff involved in each Global Health field will soon be covered
under a new institutional SOS insurance policy that will cover medical evacuation and
also political evacuation.
 All clinical providers are covered for malpractice via institutional foreign liability
insurance coverage.
IT Development.
We are working with Mount Sinai IT to develop a web-based database to enhance tracking and
monitoring of all Global Health field projects. These enhancements will:
 Facilitate tracking of personnel and programs through the Online Travel Registry.
 House all required forms, affidavits and documents
 House Health and Safety Information including a presentation, either by video or
PowerPoint, that all medical field project travelers will be required to watch and certify
that they have completed.
 These databases will be password protected and access will be provided to all relevant
parties including Mount Sinai Global Health, the Office of the Dean, the Office of the
President, Legal, and Risk Management.
Program Evaluation. Each year the Dean for Global Health in consultation with the Dean of the
Mount Sinai School of Medicine will review and evaluate this mentoring and security plan and
will update and improve as necessary.