Overview
UNDERGRADUATE PREPARATION
GETTING STARTED - think global, act local
Australian Red Cross
Australian Defence Force - Military Reserve
Royal Life Saving Society of Australia
St John Ambulance
Scouting
WORKING IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD
ESSENTIAL: know what you're in for
PROTECTION + SUPPORT: Establish yourself within a well-supported environment
CLINICAL training is essential
A NOTE on paid versus voluntary involvement
EXPERIENCE counts, but how can I get involved before I'm at the post-Fellowship level?
AUSTRALIA: remote Indigenous health
OVERSEAS opportunities as a junior or intermediate clinician
INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA: Remote, rural and (for most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders) urban health care
Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services:
Health Workforce Queensland (or equivalent in other Australian states and territories)
Queensland Health (or equivalent in other Australian states and territories)
The Australian College for Rural and Remote Medicine (ACCRM)
John Flynn Placement Program:
TELEMEDICINE: Specialists in the first world treating patients from afar
ARMY + NAVY + AIRFORCE: Australian Defence Force
GLOBAL ALLIANCES: GAVI Alliance example
ACADEMIA: as part of your clinical practice
UNIVERSITY COURSEWORK after your MBBS: Public Health
RESEARCH: Competent clinical, laboratory and fieldwork research can greatly improve Global Health outcomes
ORGANISATIONS and KEY RESOURCES: a brief list
Australian Aid Resource & Training Guide
AusAID
Fred Hollows
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, aka Doctors Without Borders)
Millennium Development Villages
Oxfam
Red Cross
UNICEF
United Nations
World Health Organisation (WHO)
World Vision
CAMEOS of SUCCESS
Two of our leading mentors at the UQ School of Medicine describe their personal pathways in Global Health, as part of their highly successful careers in medicine.
Head of UQ School of Medicine, Professor David Wilkinson
Patron of UQMS, Professor John Pearn AM RFD
Medical students might be constrained by available time, evolving level of knowledge and clinical experience, limited finances and, for many, existing personal commitments.
However, many opportunities do exist for medical students to engage in Global Health and students are encouraged to:
- Learn and practise good clinical medicine (essential in every context, especially Global Health)
- Take part in the range of Global Health activities offered to you. A separate outline of the Curricular and Extracurricular Opportunities for Students is provided elsewhere on this website, although some opportunities for students are identified on this webpage too.
- Be aware of the array of post graduate pathways in Global Health (we've outlined some below).
By being familiar with your options, you can secure great opportunities in Global Health soon after you graduate from medical school.
If you'd like to give service to your local or global community, start with a local group of a national or international body. As a med student, doctor and global citizen, this is one of the most practical ways to begin a lifetime of meaningful and effective involvement in global health and gain a broader perspective on life.
Some of the main civilian organisations for medical students to get involved with in Australia are identified immediately below. They are all highly accessible at the local level and have well-established national and international structures. You may be aware of other organisations not on this list, feel free to expand your horizons!
If you are interested in groups such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), please note that substantial post-Fellowship specialty experience is often strongly preferred by such aid organisations. Ways to get involved in those organisations are outlined in separate sections elsewhere in this document.
Australian Red Cross
Australian Red Cross is active in every State and Territory in Australia, and provides over 60 community services, ranging from blood supplies and disaster services to first aid and refugee services.
Internationally, Red Cross is involved in numerous development and emergency programs. See
www.redcross.org.au for more.
Australian Defence Force - Military Reserve
For example, the Royal Australian Medical Corps of the Defence Reserves. The ADF offers opportunities for civilian medical officers ranging from disaster relief work to providing medical services in active combat zones. See the section “Australian Defence Force” elsewhere on this webpage, read the Cameo on Prof Pearn and go to
www.defence.gov.au for more.
Royal Life Saving Society of Australia
Royal Life Saving has been serving Australia for over 110 years and is the leading water safety, swimming and lifesaving education organisation in Australia. Its mission is to prevent loss of life and injury in the community with an emphasis on the aquatic environment. Go to the website at
www.royallifesaving.com.au for more information.
St John Ambulance
The Australian branch of this truly international body trains 380,000 Australians in First Aid each year. Proper First Aid training is one of the most important health interventions you can provide to any community, yet it is sometimes overlooked.
Experience in St John Ambulance will give you the opportunity to not only assist individuals, but also to advance to a level where you can train new Trainers and make a far-reaching contribution to various communities around the world. Go to
www.stjohn.org.au for more.
Scouting
Scouting Worldwide involves over 28 million people in 155 countries and its aim is “educating young people to play a constructive role in society and to create a better world.”
The extensive global Scouting network has broad social significance and opportunities for involvement. Available to both males and females for over 20 years, Scouting emphasises peace, education and understanding, and transcends all cultures, religions, races, politics, age and gender barriers.
In recognition of Scouting Australia's major role in preparing young people for good citizenship, personal development and community leadership, the Australian Federal Government declared 2008 the Year of the Scout. The Scouting Australia Program aims to help children and young people achieve their full potential in life. This is done through individualised, fun, adventurous, challenging, leadership and teamwork-oriented programs. See
www.scouts.com.au to get involved.
ESSENTIAL: know what you're in for
If this kind of work is something you're interested in, we want you to get involved. But you'll need to know the lie of the land. This section is not designed to scare you off but to bring to your attention some important practical aspects of the practice of medicine in the developing world. Be empowered to get involved to make an important difference… but not ‘get burned' in the process.
Know what you're in for. The third world and disaster zones are confronting and dangerous places. Daily life is affected by elements of the following:
- Remoteness from home and friends
- Abuse of power at many levels
- Social disruption
- Corruption at many levels
- Violence
- Lack of safe buildings (at home and at work)
- Lawlessness
- By Western values, the abuse of women and children
- Unreliable services - sewerage, water, electricity, transport
- High prevalence, incidence and severity of preventable (often infectious) disease
- High obstetric morbidity and mortality
- High prevalence of non-intentional injury, e.g. drowning, snakebites
- Climate
- Endemic diseases threatening you
Medical practice ‘in the field' (i.e. outside a standard western hospital or other well-resourced environment) generally requires already having substantial clinical experience, either as a generalist or specialist.
However opportunities in developing world medicine do exist for junior doctors. If you have limited qualifications and training, seek subordinate positions in a clinically safe environment.
- A post in which you have insufficient access to clinical and organisational help is not safe for your patients (clinically) or for you (intellectually or physically) and in addition is likely to be unpleasant for you.
- A poorly supported post is therefore unlikely to meet your expectations (though it might do - if you're lucky and also exceptionally quick to learn)
- Valuable non-clinical experience and training that is relevant to healthcare in a developing country may be gained in a first world capital city, such as in laboratory research or in committee work developing policies.
PROTECTION + SUPPORT: Establish yourself within a well-supported environment
Ensure that you set out to participate in a well-organised structure. It is important to be well-protected from the outset, and know that you are. Don't take a chance on this.
The personal hazards to you can be exacerbated by naivety; you may well lack skills and insight, so know your limitations and how to minimise the risks.
- Ask around, among those experienced in developing world medicine, as individuals or via aid organisations.
- Learn about the place to which you are headed: cultural, religious, political, personal security, transport, Australian Government consular access, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) website assessments, climate, endemic diseases, vectors, diet, level of development and distribution of health resources (local and foreign aid)
- Make sure you're as technically and mentally prepared as possible. If that means waiting a year or two, then wait.
CLINICAL training is essential
To be useful in field work scenarios, you must be clinically experienced and qualified to perform a variety of medical and surgical procedures. Substantial post-Fellowship specialty experience is strongly preferred by various aid organisations (e.g. MSF, International Committee of the Red Cross). Ways to get involved prior to achieving that level of expertise are outlined in separate sections below.
Some clinical disciplines are particularly relevant in developing world medicine:
- Orthopaedics, General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Anaesthesia, Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Paediatrics
Generalists do have a role:
- Must be well trained and highly experienced, have good knowledge of local diseases, competent and efficient in clinical diagnosis (absence of diagnostic and therapeutic laboratory facilities)
A NOTE on paid versus voluntary involvement
Some agencies have the capacity to either employ you within their scope of operations, or offer volunteering roles. Altruism aside, the implications for your safety (and potential obligation to remain if the going gets tough) vary according to the various definitions of “volunteering,” which include:
- Pay your own way - including airfares (recipient organisation gains free worker) or
- Travel and subsistence provided by recipient organisation, but no salary or
- Sending organisation pays travel, living +/- salary (costs recipient organisation nothing) or
- Paying the clinic or hospital for your placement (as well as paying own transport and living costs)
Money might or might not be a bad thing.
- It is okay to be paid for your valuable expertise and time.
- Money can cause trouble, especially if you are paid a lot more than the local salary for the same job. The locals will probably find out and might not be motivated to help you at all.
- If payment is required for the privilege of being there, perhaps make enquiries about how the funds are directed
EXPERIENCE COUNTS, but how can I get involved before I'm at the post-Fellowship level?
If post-Fellowship seems an eternity away, you can get good interim preparation, gain relevant experience and make a real difference along the way, both in Australia and overseas.
AUSTRALIA: remote Indigenous health
Many remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities share the challenges of remoteness, some with the added burden of substantial social dysfunction. Other communities are highly functional. Locum appointments, or longer term contracts, offer an opportunity to gain experience without committing yourself to too much, too soon.
While contributing to the improvement of remote Australian Indigenous health, you have an opportunity to gain a good insight into the substantial challenges of remote medicine. Working in Australia offers you reasonable support networks and probably a fairly protected environment. You'll be less likely to be left high and dry and will gain valuable first hand experience in:
- The effect of remoteness on preventative health care and on treatment limitations, e.g. working where sewerage, clean water and/or electricity are unreliable
- Alternative social organisation, which might be dysfunctional. Elements of abuse of power (from various sources) may exist. Experience how aspects of physical safety, for example secure buildings and police presence, affect the community
- A sense of how the coordinated efforts of many groups and professions, (i.e. not just medicine and health care), are necessary for stable society - e.g. education, engineering and infrastructure, governance etc
- The importance of working with local structures and groups to establish effective, sustainable long-term infrastructure and services
- A variety of medical problems, including: diseases of poverty , violence, substance abuse, preventable obstetric and childhood morbidity and mortality; high prevalence of mental health problems
For further information on getting involved in Australian Indigenous health, some starting points are listed in the next section below: Indigenous Australia
OVERSEAS opportunities as a junior or intermediate clinician
There are many ways. Keep reading this UQ-UNMDG document for ideas!
The 20 year gap in life expectancy for Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is a shocking and complex problem. To work towards achieving health equality for Indigenous Australians, careful cooperation, communication and dedication is required.
Nationwide, less than 25 % of Indigenous Australians live remote environments. The large majority of Indigenous Australians live in urban / metropolitan areas. The UNMDG website has numerous teaching and learning resources dedicated to better understanding of crucial aspects of Australian Indigenous health and culture.
Below are some key starting points to consult if you wish to become involved in Australian Indigenous clinical practice.
Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services:
Health Workforce Queensland (or equivalent in other Australian states and territories)
- Health Workforce Queensland aims to facilitate the recruitment, retention and quality enhancement of general medical practitioners and primary health care teams in rural and remote Queensland communities. It is part of a network of Rural Workforce Agencies within Australia funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. See www.healthworkforce.com.au.
Queensland Health (or equivalent in other Australian states and territories)
The Australian College for Rural and Remote Medicine (ACCRM)
- Provides support, training and networking for rural and remote practice, in various contexts. ACRRM can help identify and then organise training/qualifications in various skills such as obstetrics and anaesthesia which are useful in any remote practice setting.
John Flynn Placement Program:
- Indigenous community placements for medical students as part of this 4 year (8 weeks total) extra-curricular mentor program for clinical placements around Australia.
- Available to Australian citizens or Permanent Residents enrolled in medicine.
Telemedicine (aka online health, telehealth and e-health) is an exciting, rapidly emerging field of medicine and is poised to become a major feature of health care around the world, in many fields.
It enables specialists to be directly involved in the health care of developing and/or isolated communities, while at the same time operating from first world surroundings. Telemedicine services overcome the challenges of distance between doctor and patient, enabling: diagnosis, management, education (for both patient and doctor) and administrative duties.
In Australia, reduced travel time and costs of patients/doctors to clinics increases access to health care and, in some cases, enables patients to remain in more comfortable and familiar home surroundings. In the developing world, telemedicine patients are granted access to care that could never otherwise be provided. Telemedicine projects around the world are an option for you throughout your career.
Images and other information are conveyed by various technologies: internet (email, photographs, video links), telephone, fax and videoconference. Real time (e.g. video conferencing) or delayed send (e.g. email) can be employed for excellent clinical use. Telemedicine is already established among a broad range of fields:
- Burns
- Cardiology
- Dermatology
- Diabetes
- Ears, nose, throat
- Geriatrics
- Mental health
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Oncology
- Orthopaedics
- Paediatrics
- Radiology
One of the world's leading telemedicine facilities is right here at the Royal Brisbane Children's Hospital; The University of Queensland's Centre for Online Health (COH) at www.uq.edu.au/coh has three main areas of activity:
- Research in online health, with particular reference to paediatrics and child health
- Teaching about online health
- The delivery of online health services
Tour opportunities: The UQ Centre for Online Health welcomes requests from UQ medical students to book group visits of the telemedicine facilities.
- Deputy Director Dr Anthony Smith has kindly indicated that students should email enquiries@coh.uq.edu.au to arrange a group visit.
An example of Telemedicine in Developing World Health: Tabubil in Papua New Guinea
- This pilot project was jointly coordinated by the UQ-COH with Universitas 21 and finished in 2008. Final year medical students worked with local doctors in Tabubil, PNG, to gather diagnostic samples from patients, send it for remote diagnosis & then carry out treatment
Rewarding, interesting, challenging and diverse opportunities to take part in Global Health. Choose your Employment Status (duty requirements depend on this): Let it be an interest or make it your career:
- Civilian Health Practitioner on Contract or
- Reserve uniformed force or
- Regular uniformed force (full time)
Prior training in civilian specialty environments is an excellent basis for becoming an adept military clinician. Opportunities in:
- Disaster Relief e.g. Asian Tsunami (2004), Bali Bombings (2002, 2004)
- Provision of Public Health Measures e.g. Malaria control and training in endemic regions, Northern Territory Intervention, Australia
- International Peace Keeping e.g. Solomon Islands, East Timor, Bougainville, Rwanda
- Active Combat Zones e.g. Afghanistan, Iraq
For more info see the ADF website www.defence.gov.au and read the Cameo on Professor John Pearn.
The GAVI Alliance (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations) is outlined here to give you an example of the variety of players who bring about high-level progress in Global Health, and to imply further ways that you as a doctor could get involved www.gavialliance.org.
The GAVI Alliance is a unique organisation that aligns public and private sector resources in a global effort to create greater access to the benefits of immunisation and ultimately save millions of lives worldwide. It does this with precision, in innovative and creative ways, to ensure that donor contributions efficiently save lives and help build self-sufficiency in the world's poorest communities and regions.
GAVI's partners include:
- UN agencies and institutions (UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank)
- Civil society organisations (International Pediatric Association)
- Public health institutes (The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)
- Donor and implementing country governments
- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Other private philanthropists
- Vaccine industry representatives
- Others whose collective efforts and expertise are enabling much greater progress to be made in this field than ever before.
Read more about GAVI from the Lancet article below.
The GAVI Alliance's new vaccine strategy (The Lancet - Vol 372 - July 5, 2008, Editorial). GAVI Alliance; 2008; Available from: www.gavialliance.org/media_centre/news/2008_07_05_Lancet.php
UNIVERSITY COURSEWORK after your MBBS: Public Health
Short term university options generally offer coursework +/- research:
- Masters, Graduate Certificates, Graduate Diplomas. Typically, these programs can be studied part time (in conjunction with medical practice, family commitments etc) or full time
- The list below is by no means complete and is designed to raise basic awareness of these opportunities. Students (and current doctors) can initiate further enquiries. Most universities around the world offer such courses; at UQ, we recommend you start with the School of Medicine and School of Population Health. The links and information below are from the UQ School of Population Health website.
Master of Public Health (Standard)
This program equips students with the knowledge and competencies to contribute to health management and policy, disease control and health promotion across a wide range of populations. The extensive choice in elective courses offers deeper understandings of evidence in
- Health care, Epidemiology, Statistics, Qualitative and quantitative research methods, Ethics, Health economics, Health policy
Opportunities in specialised plans of the Master of Public Health exist, such as in Nutrition, Defence and Indigenous Health.
- For example, the Master of Public Health (Tropical Health) specialised plan provides additional focus on: Epidemiological and demographic analysis; Disease control; Health systems and policy; Culture, sociology and economics; Situational crises
RESEARCH: Competent clinical, laboratory and fieldwork research can greatly imporve Global Health outcomes
Developing your knowledge and making new discoveries can help you make a large contribution to improving Global Health, from the first world to the third world and everything in between.
You could do this by working in a first class clinical or laboratory setting in the first world, or by gathering data in the field, or by sending helpers to gather it for you…you might even observe your colleagues to make a groundbreaking difference! (e.g. Sir Richard Doll, below)
Below are some examples to help inspire you and demonstrate how individuals can truly effect substantial improvement and change.
Epidemiology
Sir Richard Doll (1913-2005): medical doctor and mathematical genius, saved millions of lives through demonstrating and publicising the link between tobacco smoking and lung cancer. Follow the link below to find out more about his legendary contributions to global health.
Peto R, Collins R. Nature Nurture Luck. Oxford Today 2005;18(1). Available from:
www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/2005-06/v18n1/02.shtml.
Prevention
Vaccination and other public health measures greatly improve health for people throughout the world. Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1979 by the WHO, following intensive vaccination campaigns. Below are some exciting new and developing vaccines that may well play a major role in improving global health in coming years:
Gardasil: vaccination against cancer of the uterine cervix. Professor Ian Frazer's Gardasil can prevent slow and miserable death for millions of women in the developing world, if the challenges of delivering the vaccine are overcome. Read the feature article on Prof Frazer
Rheumatic heart disease, secondary to Streptococcus A infection, causes much morbidity and mortality in the developing world and in Australian Indigenous communities. Read about the leading research for a Strep A vaccine done by the team lead by Professor Michael Good AO, Director of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research at the link below.
QIMR salutes its first Officer. Queensland Institute of Medical Research; 2008 [cited 2008]; Available from: www.qimr.edu.au/news/2008/articles/MGOfficer.html.
Diagnosis
Over 500 million people world wide affected by serious malaria infections each year. Although prevention is not yet an option, exciting new developments are taking place in diagnostic tests for malaria. New ones are being rolled out in 2008 -
- Check with Dr Vallely, Director, Pacific Malaria Initiative Support Centre, UQ and Dr Dennis Shanks, Director, Australian Army Malaria Institute, Brisbane, Australia
Treatment and Cure
Antibiotics, since the Nobel Prize-winning work of Fleming, Chain and Florey “for their discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in infectious disease”, antibiotics have been a major weapon in the prevention and treatment of infection, reducing morbidity and enhancing survival
Peptic ulcer, Helicobacter pylori and proving the Postulates - Nobel Prize laureate duo Professor Barry Marshall and Emeritus Professor Robin Warren demonstrated that this bug was the cause of peptic-ulcer morbidity and mortality for millions worldwide. Identifying this link has revolutionised orthodox chronic symptomatic treatment, replacing it with a single, curative course of antibiotics.
HIV / AIDS drug treatment - current trials in progress. Although still very much in the early stages, the potential here is phenomenal…
Australian Aid Resource & Training Guide
The Australian Aid Resource and Training Guide (AARTG) is a useful resource. It is an entry point for the humanitarian aid and development sector. It is available via the Australian Development Gateway web portal which:
- Aims to give aid professionals in the Asia Pacific Region the chance to share information on sustainable development and poverty reduction
- Is funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), as part of the Australian Government's overseas aid program
The AARTG contains an array of up to date information such as advice, websites, resources, agencies and contacts. These are organised into four main sections:
- Advice for those seeking to apply their skills in overseas aid projects
- Useful Australian contacts in the aid field
- Useful overseas or international contacts related to the aid field
- The main aid-related training courses on offer in Australia
The information in the AARTG is designed for a number of people:
- For both the experienced aid practitioner and the less experienced professional wanting to either update training and professional skills or seeking new overseas working opportunities
- The volunteer, student or other person wanting to explore training or job opportunities overseas
- Other individuals with an interest in overseas development or humanitarian aid
Access the Australian Aid Resource and Training Guide online through the Australian Development Gateway website www.developmentgateway.com.au by the following pathway:
Apart from the ressources outlined above, we have selected a few well-known and well-established organisations that you may be interested in getting involved with (listed alphabetically)
AusAID
- AusAID, the Australian Agency for International Development, manages the Australian federal government's overseas aid program. The AusAID website also has substantial information for career workers and volunteers at: www.ausaid.gov.au
Fred Hollows
- Dedicated to overcoming preventable blindness around the world. Check out the website at www.hollows.org.au
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, aka Doctors Without Borders)
The application procedure for field work with MSF is rigorous and requires substantial training and recent experience in your field of expertise. If you're interested in MSF:
- Go to the website at www.msf.org.au and play around. There's plenty of information on the many activities and ways you can support MSF, including volunteer field work for doctors.
Wednesday 10 December 2008
E.S. Meyers Lecture Theatre,
Level 2, Mayne Medical School, 288 Herston Road, Herston
Millennium Development Villages
Millennium Villages are designed to demonstrate how the eight Millennium Development Goals can be met in rural Africa within five years through community-led development. See www.millenniumvillages.org
The initiative works directly with the respective communities, non-governmental organisations and national governments. Communities are granted access to proven and powerful technologies, to empower them to lift themselves out of poverty and achieve the UNMDG. Farm productivity, health, education, and access to markets are enhanced - while operating within the budget constraints established by international agreements for official development assistance.
Located in 10 African countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda), the Millennium Villages are in:
- Hunger “hotspots” where chronic hunger is widespread, often accompanied by a high prevalence of disease, lack of access to medical care, and a severe lack of infrastructure
- A reasonably peaceful nation governed by an accountable government which is committed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals; and
- One of 12 distinct agro-ecological zones in Africa. Each of the 12 clusters of villages is located in a distinct agro-ecological zone — arid or humid, highland or lowland, grain producing or pastoral — to reflect the range of farming, water, and disease challenges facing the continent and to show how tailored strategies can overcome each one of them.
Millennium Promise (www.millenniumpromise.org) administers the Millennium Villages. The FAQ on its website indicate that professional involvement is exclusive; volunteer and internship positions are not possible. “In keeping with our model of community ownership, the villagers, with the support of local workers and the Millennium Villages Project staff, complete all work in the villages.”
Oxfam
Oxfam works with communities around the world for solutions to poverty and social injustice. Oxfam also leads Australia's Close the Gap campaign to bring Indigenous health and lifestyle standards in line with those of mainstream Australians.
Red Cross and Red Crescent International Movement
The Australian Red Cross which is active in every State and Territory in Australia, and provides over 60 community services, ranging from blood supplies and disaster services to first aid and refugee services.
- See www.redcross.org.au for more, including for information regarding Australain Red Cross involvement in numerous development and emergency programs.
Internationally, the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement has been established for over 150 years. The seven fundamental principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent are humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.
UNICEF
This arm of the United Nations is dedicated to infant, child and adolescent protection and health.
United Nations
The United Nations is a vast organisation. Its activities include peacekeeping, conflict resolution, child survival and development, environmental protection, human rights, health and medical research, alleviation of poverty, promoting economic development, agricultural and fisheries development, education, the advancement of women, emergency and disaster relief, air and sea travel, peaceful uses of atomic energy, labour and workers' rights. The list goes on.
- See their website for more information www.un.org/english and refer to the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, the dedicated health-directed branches of the UN.
World Health Organisation (WHO)
WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.
- See the website www.who.int/en for more information, including careers at the WHO.
World Vision
Australia's largest overseas aid and humanitarian organisation, World Vision provides relief in emergency situations and works on long-term development projects with local communities, to address the causes of poverty and help them become self-sufficient. (www.worldvision.com.au)
Two of our leading mentors at the UQ School of Medicine describe their personal pathways in Global Health, as part of their highly successful careers in medicine.
Head of UQ School of Medicine, Professor David Wilkinson and UQMS Patron, Professor John Pearn, offer their insights into how they've incorporated interesting and rewarding pursuits in Global Health, within the context of flourishing medical careers in first world sub-specialty practice.
Head of UQ School of Medicine, Professor David Wilkinson
Protagonist of the UQ-UNMDG Project, Professor Wilkinson forged his career in developing world health in South Africa. Click here for more about his background.
Patron of UQMS, Professor John Pearn AM RFD
This legendary figure of our medical school has built an extraordinary life and career - both in the military and as a civilian.
Professor Pearn's extensive medical career in the Australian Defence Force is highly decorated, including his appointment as Surgeon General of the ADF. He has played important medical roles in active combat, peace keeping and disaster relief, both within Australia and overseas.
