Download - Global Public Health Newsletter
One of the conversations happening at univer-
sities across the country is how better to pre-
pare students to enter their professional careers
directly after graduation. Internships are one of
the best ways to gain experience critical for
landing post-graduate dream jobs. And why
not gain credit for the work you do?
Because local is part of global, the GPH Minor
created an internship program starting with
seven local organizations. These opportunities
reflect the diversity of GPH students; some will
work directly with care recipients, while others
will pursue careers in health advocacy or public
-health policy.
The Director’s Internship Challenge is raising
funds to awards students $500 toward un-paid
internships. GPH stakeholders are challenged
to match the Director’s $500 donation or a
portion of it. Use the “donate” button at http://
hs.umt.edu/globalpublichealth. Be sure to des-
ignate Internship Challenge in the comments.
GPH also maintains a list of outstanding na-
tional and international internships See list on
Page 2.
For more information about internships contact Program Coordinator Kelly Yarns @ kellly-
[email protected] or see the GPH website: http://hs.umt.edu/globalpublichealth/
Fall 2018 Issue #4
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Local Internships ............... 2
EAC New Members ............ 2
EAC-Dr. Barger-Kamate .... 2
EAC Award Winner ........... 3
Dr. Koehn’s New Book ....... 3
Peace Corp Prep Program . 3
GPH Grad In the News ...... 4
GPH Alum in Zambia ........ 4
Koehn/Ngai Scholarship
Winners .............................. 5
First GPH Intern ............... 5
2018 Spring Lecture Series 6
GPH Alum joins WAMMI . 6
Program Coordinator ........ 6
Global Public Health Newsletter The University of Montana
2019 SPRING LECTURE SERIES
GPH INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Keep your Wednesday evening’s free for the 2019 Spring GPH Lecture Series: “Global
Public Health: Experiences and Insights!” The talks are presented by people working
in the field of Global Public Health. Spring 2019 series topics include: community de-
velopment in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains; public health challenges of migration; un-
tangling the mystery of community behavior change; health education through the
Peace Corps; addressing maternal mortality, Borneo: the interconnection of environ-
mental & human health, Montana to Mali: a UM grad’s journey to a global health ca-
reer; how Special Olympics fosters systems change; what global health research teach-
es about Montana health care; rural healthcare in India; a Global Grizzly Ugandan
experience; and more! Talks are Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm in Gallagher #123.
The 2018 Spring Lecture Series was recorded by Missoula Community Access Televi-sion and are available online at the GPH website or mcat.org (thanks MCAT!)
More Local Internships Opportunities to come!
GPH staff will continue to develop internships through the year
• YWCA Missoula: Placement in one of a variety of YWCA programs aimed at fulfilling their mission of “eliminating
racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.”
• Poverello Center’s Medical Respite Program: Assist the Medical Respite Care Coordinator with research, connecting
clients with resources, and community outreach.
• Consumer Direct Hospice: Join a Hospice Care Team working directly with hospice patients.
• Missoula League of Women Voters: Monitor health-related legislation during the 2019 Montana Legislative session.
• Missoula Medical Aid: Help organize their annual Salsa Ball fund raiser. There is also an opportunity for native or
fluent Spanish speakers to translate during medical missions to Honduras.
• Missoula Forum for Children and Youth: Assist with substance-abuse prevention for children and youth programs.
• UM’s Global Grizzlies summer health worker volunteer trip
• International Opportunities: IE3'international internships and the Centre For Social Medicine in the Loni-Pravara
area of India, Unite For Sight, and others
• Missoula City-County Health Department Health Promotion Division programs:
THE EAC WELCOMES NEW MEMBER, DR. BREANNA BARGER-KAMATE
GPH INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
I grew up in Arlee Montana, a small town 30
minutes north of Missoula. I attended the Univer-
sity of Montana, initially studying political science
and French. I returned for an additional year of
pre-medicine study to qualify for medical school. I
had my first experiences with global health re-
search working as a research assistant to Dr.
Peter Koehn on his transnational competency
work. After completing my undergrad, I moved to
Washington DC where I worked at the National
Institutes of Health on a project that took me to
Mali. During this year I also applied to medical
school. In the fall of 2004, I began my studies at
Montana State through the WWAMI program.
After my third year of medical school I was accept-
ed into the Forgarty International Health Scholars
program. In the fall of 2007, I returned to Mali for
a year. I helped conduct one of the earliest trials of
using intermittent preventive treatment for malar-
ia in school children. With this came abundant
clinical experience and a front line education in
health disparities.
In 2008, while seeing patients on the pediatric
ward, I was increasingly concerned about the
number of patients dying from poverty. They
simply could not afford their diagnostic work up
or treatment. I wrote an email home and within
days several friends and family members had
donated a few thousand dollars to help pay for
care. At the end of rounds, the pediatric team
would assess the needs of patients and determine
who would need financial support. We would go
and purchase the studies and medicines needed to
continue patient care. The program became a huge
success. Mali Medical Relief Fund was born! Pa-
tients benefited from the care they received, and
the medical team is able to do much more to help
patients in financial difficulty.
We continued our work even after I left to return
to the USA. We had a reliable team of physicians
and medical students who continued to refer pa-
tients and provide care. Over the years, we have
benefited from generous donors who have helped
our organization grow. The Mali Medical Relief
Fund now supports 5 sites around the country and
is able to provide complex surgeries including
brain surgery, complex orthopedic surgeries, and
even prostheses.
I completed my training in pediatrics and pediat-
ric emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital
in Baltimore, MD. My day job is that I am an at-
tending pediatric emergency medicine physician
at Providence Sacred Heart in Spokane Washing-
ton. I continue on as the Chief of Operations and
Chair of the board of Mali Medical Relief Fund. I
am thrilled to be a part of the global health exter-
nal advisory committee. I had such a wonderful
start to my career at UM. I hope many others are
able to join in the exciting field of global health.
2
EAC Member Breanna Barger
-Kamate in Mali
Buckle Up Missoula County
Cancer Control
DUI Task Force
Emergency Preparedness
Infectious Disease
Let’s Move! Missoula
Missoula Invest Health
Suicide Prevention
Tobacco Free Missoula County
The Mali Medical Relief Fund
pays for the medical care for
Malians in need. 100% of do-
nated funds go directly to
patient care.
https://
malimedicalrelief.org/
WELCOME NEW
EAC MEMBERS!
Since Spring 2017, 8 Global
health professionals have
joined UM’s GPH External
Advisory Committee.
Alexandra Enders, OTR/L
Phillip Seidenberg, MD
Sarah Webb, MPH
Jonas Attebery, MD
Julie DeSoto, MPA, MPH
Mary Nielsen, MSN, RN
Tim Nielsen, RPT
Breanna Barger-Kamate, MD
Annie Linn, MPH
“I am emerging as a more informed, passionate, and active global citizen.” -GPH student
PEACE CORP PREP CER-TIFICATE IN HEALTH
UM and the Peace Corps have a Memorandum of Under-
standing that brings significant changes to UM’s Peace
Corps Prep Program. UM’s PC Prep Programs specializa-
tions coincide with the Peace Corps sector specific areas.
UM students can earn PC Prep certificates in the work
sectors of: Health; Agriculture; Environment; Education;
and/or Community Economic Development. In addition to
course work, students are required to complete 50 hours of
service learning that coincides with their sector-specific
course work and participate in professional development.
As part of their course work, PCP students take 3 intercul-
tural competence courses.
If interested in the health
specialization, contact the
faculty advisor Prof. Curtis
Noonan. For more infor-
mation about the PC Prep
program, visit the PC Prep
page on the IDS website:
umt.edu/PeaceCorpPrep.
GPH Director Peter Koehn’s new book spotlights the powerful contemporary inter-sections of inequality, human movement and health. “Writing this book brought together my concerns for people on the move and for issues of global health,” said Koehn,. “Mitigating negative health impacts on, and of, the most vulnerable of the world’s transnationally mobile people is the principal outcome I aim for with this book.” Transnational Mobility and Global Health treats interconnected health and migra-tion themes not covered elsewhere under one cover: health tourism, conflict-induced and other “survival”-population movements, humanitarian crises, human rights, the health-development linkage, migrant-health care and health-competency education. The book also considers global health vulnerabilities in the wake of climate change, and the biomedical, ethical and governance challenges of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Transnational Mobility and Global Health is the fourth book Koehn has published in the past four years. His other recent titles address the role of universities in sus-tainable development, climate change, and transnational university partnerships.
Kirstin Tucker, a GPH minor majoring
in human biology and pre-med was
awarded the External Advisory Commit-
tee Award for her volunteer service
learning trip to the Iganga District Hos-
pital, Uganda, with the Global Grizzlies.
“During my time in Uganda, I learned
about their health care system, and
about how they are able to provide
healthcare to the entire district with
very limited resources. I gained once in
a lifetime experiences, and it was in part
due to the support and education pro-
vided by the Global Public Health Pro-
gram.” Kirsten stayed for 8 weeks after
the Global Grizzlies left.
“Growing up, I was always interested in
the healthcare field. I was first intro-
duced to global health when my family
adopted my younger brother from Chi-
na. He was born with a cleft lip, and a
team of US doctors fixed his lip and
gave him a chance at life. Then, after
graduating high school I was able to
travel to Guatemala for a week. This
introduced me to their healthcare sys-
tem, and to the areas in which it needs
to be improved. Combined, these expe-
riences made me realize the importance
of public health, especially in global
setting. So, when I found out that the
University of Montana offered Global
Public Health as a minor, I knew it
would be a perfect fit.
My goals are to graduate this spring and
then apply to medical school. As a doc-
tor, I plan on working both domestically
and globally. The Global Public Health
minor will provide me with the
knowledge and cultural understanding
needed to be successful in my future
goals.
As a Global Public Health minor I have
had my world view expanded, and my
eyes opened to global issues and their
complexities. I have also been equipped
to begin to unravel those complexities
and succeed with my goals. I am excited
to continue my education this year and
continue my growth within Global Pub-
lic Health!”
KIRSTEN TUCKER WINS THE EAC AWARD!
Kirsten Tucker
3
GPH DIRECTOR PETER KOEHN’S NEW BOOK: “TRANSNATIONAL MOBILI-
TY AND GLOBAL HEALTH: TRAVERSING BORDERS AND BOUNDARIES”
WHAT’S NEW WITH THE GPH PROGRAM
Core faculty Joel Iverson and
Annie Belcourt joined the GPH
Faculty Steering Committee.
New GPH Courses
Core: IDS 497-02 Communica-
tion for Social and Behavior
Change
Core: IDS 497-01 Monitoring and
Evaluation in International De-
velopment
Core: ANTY 126 Anthropology
and Global Health
Content: PSCI 448 Health Care
Policy
Thank you to Fall 2018
guest lecturers:
“Global Migration” by Wilmot Collins,
Helena mayor, former refugee, Child Protection
Specialist with Mt Dept of Health and Human
Services, UM Helena College Adjunct Professor,
Retired US Navy Reservist.
“US Immigration & Refugee Policy in the
Trump Era” by Dr. Susan Martin, Profes-
sor Emerita in International Migration at
Georgetown University, Chair of the Working
Group on Environmental Change with the
World Bank and past Executive Director on the
US Commission on Immigration Reform.
IN THE NEWS: GPH GRADUATE TEAGUE RUTHERFORD
RACHEL SCHMOKER, 2015 GPH GRADUATE AND PEACE CORP VOLUNTEER IN ZAMBIA
4
Rachael Schmoker, 2015
GPH graduate, is in her
second year in Zambia as a
Health Extension Agent
with the Community
Health Improvement Pro-
ject, a Peace Corp project.
Rachael is keeping a blog
called Under the Baobab
Tree about her experience.
https://
rschmokerpeace-
corps.wordpress.com/about/
One of her main projects is to help fund and build a Health Post.
Donations can be made here: https://www.peacecorps.gov/donate/projects/
completion-of-the-health-post-project-pp-18-611-021/
Teague Rutherford Photo by the Missoulian
“… if one advances confi-dently in the direction of their dreams, and endeav-ors to live the life which they have imagined, they will meet with a success unexpected in common hours… If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now, put the foundations under them. – Henry David Thoreau in you." -Paul Theroux
Global Public Health minor Joshua “Teague” Rutherford started a four-year program
at the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health this fall. He also plans to pursue a
Masters degree in Public Health. Teague graduated on the spring 2018 Dean’s list
with a Human Biology bachelor’s degree, and minors in GPH and Native American
Studies. Teague plans to return to a Montana reservation as the first dentist from the
Fort Belknap reservation.
Teague, along with fellow GPH minor and Global Grizzly Andrew Honkin, volun-
teered in a rural hospital in Iganaga, Uganda, during the summer of 2017. Teague
reflected that the dental care he observed in Uganda reminded him of his home on
the Fort Belknap Reservation. While there are more dental resources at Fort Belk-
nap, there is a strong need for dental education, a better dentist to patient ratio, and
education about diets high in carbohydrates. Global Grizzlies is a student group who
organize an annual month-long volunteer experience abroad. Both Teague and An-
drew were awarded the GPH program’s External Advisory Committee Award, a $500
award to support an experiential learning experience for GPH students.
Teague and Andrew teamed up to present an hour-long talk about their experience
as part of the Spring 2018 Global Public Health Lecture Series. These talks were rec-
orded by Missoula Community Access Television (MCAT) and can be viewed via the
GPH website.
The Missoulian featured Teague in its March 5, 2018 Monday Montanan section:
https://missoulian.com/news/local/monday-montanan-joshua-teague-rutherford-
heads-to-dental-school/article_f8b0fd70-7cde-56aa-a575-cd84aea51def.html
Ariana Valenzuela has a deep passion for helping others and values pre-
ventative health. She plans to pursue a Master’s degree in Public Health
after she graduates with her Anthropology undergraduate degree in the
spring of 2019. Ariana has an interest in studying infectious diseases
and epidemiology and hopes to work toward protecting people from
their devastating effects. In her own words: “I am excited to be a part of
preventative medicine in hopes of creating a healthier population…”
Ariana is inspired by her grandmother who immigrated to the United
States’ from Sinaloa, Mexico and worked very hard to raise her family.
She got her first taste of working internationally while excavating 17th
and 18th century human remains at an archeological site in Poland as
part of the Slavia Foundation 2017 field school.
Sophia Deroo chose to work toward the Global
Public Health Minor because of her long-time pas-
sion for health and nutrition and first-hand obser-
vations of social inequality both in the United
States and abroad. She was awarded a Koehn/Ngai
Scholarship for Fall 2018. Sophia is also the first
GPH Intern working with girls through the YWCA
in Missoula. Because local is part of global, the
GPH program is partnering with local health relat-
ed organizations to provide experiential learning
experiences for our students.
“Food has been a big part of my life because I grew
up with a French father and an Argentinian mother
who both love to cook. Also, as I traveled the world,
I had the wonderful opportunity of eating a num-
ber of different cuisines. To me, food is one of the
most important aspect of health in a society,” said
Sophia. She discovered her passion for health as a
teenager when her mother began working with a
nutritionist.
Sophia credits the combination of her interest in people’s well-being and her pur-suit of her major in political science with drawing her to the minor in GPH. She believes that politics and health are related nationally and globally. “The global title of this degree really stood out to me because I grew up traveling around the world to countries such as Thailand and Indonesia where public health is a major concern,” she said. While traveling she no-ticed a strong connection between people’s health and how their governments invest in short and long-term well-being.
The GPH Minor “has helped me expand my Western perspective of health and health policy and enabled me to view health as an interconnected issue involving culture, wealth, environment, ethics and policy.” - GPH Student
SOPHIA DEROO, KOEHN/NGAI SCHOLARSHIP WINNER AND FIRST GPH INTERN
ARIANA VALENZUELA, KOEHN/NGAI SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE KOEHN/NGAI SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS!
5
OPPORTUNITIES
Scholarships and Awards
The Global Public Health Program has
two affiliated scholarships/awards:
◊ The Peter H. Koehn & Phyllis B.
Ngai Scholarship
◊ The Global Public Health External
Advisory Committee Award
GOOD LUCK IN FINALS!
Peter, Kelly, and Delyla
New Program Coordinator
I’m Kelly Yarns and I joined the Global Public
Health Program as program assistant for the 2017
-2018 academic year and have returned as the
Program Coordinator for the current academic
year. I have extensive program development ex-
perience combined with a deep interest in tradi-
tional health modalities. I am trained in Western
Herbal Medicine and am a massage therapist. I
turn to plant allies whenever possible, preferring
those that I can harvest in the wild or grow. I
enjoy everything that gets me out from under a
roof and into wild places in all weather.
Organizing the Lecture Series was delightful. I
enjoyed meeting our speakers and hearing about
their experiences in Global Public Health. Meet-
ing with the local organizations who have agreed
to partner with the GPH program to offer intern-
ship opportunities for our students is another
highlight of my work with GPH. Each of these
organizations
offers a unique
experiential
learning op-
portunity for
Global Public
Health stu-
dents.
Growing up in
a medical fam-
ily, I had never
really considered the public health aspect of
health care. Working with the GPH program has
opened my eyes to the vast body of knowledge
and experience that work on the public level to
keep our human communities healthy.
I graduated from UM in 2009 with a Bachelor’s
degree in Economics and minors in mathematics
and International Development Studies.
Global Public Health Minor University of Montana
Director: Dr. Peter Koehn
peter.koehn@ umontana.edu (406) 243-5294 LA348
Program Coordinators:
Kelly Yarns, [email protected] (406) 270-
0869
Delyla Wilson [email protected]
(406)243-6752 | (406) 544-5940 SS 302
A special thank you to all of our 2018 GPH Spring Lecture Series speakers. The series was a
great success! The lectures covered a wide variety of topics. Sarah Webb of Days for Girls
spoke about economic empowerment of women through accessible menstrual hygiene solu-
tions. Food and Nutrition topics included former Public Health Department Sanitarian, Joe
Russell speaking on food safety in the Republic of Georgia and Professor Nora O’Brien of
Cork, Ireland, presented her research on nutrition in rural Ethiopia. Other topics included
education for deaf or blind Kenyan children, the likelihood of global pandemics, poverty as
an illness in Haiti, advanced cardiac care in developing nations, an update on the Global
AIDS crisis, and other challenging developing world health topics. Videos can be accessed at
http://hs.umt.edu/globalpublichealth/lecture-series/videos-2018.php
2018 SPRING LECTURE SERIES
GPH ALUM MADISON SCHWARZKOPH AC-CEPTED INTO WWAMI MEDICAL PROGRAM
6
“The GPH minor truly helped me to prepare for my trip with Global Grizzlies as
well as my interview for medical school. I loved that I was able to explore other
topics I was passionate about while completing my prerequisites for medical
school, and plan to continue to use what I learned as a physician to help others in
Montana, the United States, and around the world.” — Madison Schwarzkoph
Madison Schwarzkoph began the University of Washington’ School of Medicine WWAMI
Program last August. WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) is a
competitive regional medical education program heralded as one of the most innovative
medical education and training programs in the country. Each state supports the medical
education of its students who, as part of the medical education, complete clinical rotations
to a variety of sites and environments within the five-state region to learn and experience
very different facets of medicine. One of the goals of the program is to alleviate shortages of
healthcare programs in rural and underserved urban areas. The program has been recog-
nized by the Association of American Medical Colleges with the Outstanding Community
Service Award and has been identified as the nation's top primary-care, family medicine
and rural medicine training school by U.S. News & World Report for the past 23 years.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
2019 SPRING LECTURE
SERIES
When: Spring 2019
Wednesdays 6:30 to 8:00
pm
Where: Gallagher Busi-
ness Building, #123
What: A series of talks
given by professionals
working in the field of
Global Public Health!
Available as a 1 credit
course: PSCI 191
Free and Open
to the Public!