The Global Health Office believes that Residents are best supported when there is a complementary relationship between their Department and the Global Health Office.   The goal of this relationship is to promote: 

• Professional Development
• Research Opportunities
• Capacity Development with Partners

The primary role of your Department is to help you define your personal and professional learning objectives and frame your clinical/research structure.   The primary aim of the GHO is to support the development your career interests in global health by offering both practical services and strategic support within the Faculty of Medicine.   As such the Global Health Office efforts include: 

• Facilitating pre-departure training for Residents
• Providing Residents with relevant guidance on issues relating to safety and security
• Supporting Residents’ engagement in conferences and training related to global health
• Connecting Residents to faculty as part of a global health leadership program
• Providing information on partnership links in the Global South
• Collecting information on previous Residents’ global health experience for future learners across Departments 

Existing Global Health Initiatives in Departments

Presently, three departments within the Faculty of Medicine have global health featured in their curricula.

Department of Anesthesia

Department of Anesthesia faculty members have a strong history of global engagement and outreach. Anesthesia was the first department in North America to offer education and training to anesthesia professionals practicing overseas. Faculty members have participated in training missions to Africa, and conducted research in Asia and the Middle East. The Global Health Office supported the department of Anesthesia with a part-time staff member until Spring 2010. For more information, visit the website for the Global Health Office of Anesthesia Initiatives.

Department of Psychiatry

The Department of Psychiatry received a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre designation in 2005. The focus of the Centre is to provide the WHO and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) assistance in mental health training and policy. Over the years the centre, led by Dr. Stan Kutcher, has worked on various projects including post disaster mental health training in the Caribbean, mental health policy and legislation, and many other forms of mental health training for health professionals. These efforts have continued to grow through Dr. Sonia Chehil's work in Guyana, particularly in her role as Technical Advisor to the Minister of Health. The Global Health Office has collaborated with Psychiatry's International section with its resident elective program as well as creating new opportunities for global health placements for students in the Schools of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy.

Department of Family Medicine

Family Medicine has a newly developed Global Health Interest Group to support global health research and engagement.  Most recently, it has supported research by Residents in Guyana and Tanzania.   For more information contact the Global Health Office, gho@dal.ca

How can you get involved in Global Health?

Residents Without Borders

Residents Without Borders is an initiative that started at the University of Toronto. Its title is immediately familiar and its mandate is: 

• To encourage involvement and interest in International Health
• To serve as a forum for exchange of ideas
• To act as a resource for Residents interested in supplementing their postgraduate experience

Dalhousie University and the Global Health Office are creating a Residents Without Borders Chapter here at our Faculty of Medicine; the third Canadian Chapter after the University of Toronto and Manitoba.  We are looking for Residents and Faculty interested in participating as: 

• Members in a steering committee
• A faculty lead
• Shaping a Dalhousie-specific mandate

Although this is still in a very preliminary stage, we ask those who are interested in taking up this initiative to contact us.

To stay informed on Residents Without Borders at Dalhousie check them out on Facebook

For more information on the founding chapter, please visit their Facebook Page.