Rush sends an otolaryngology team on two global health trips per year to the Dominican Republic where Rush has a well-established presence and a strong relationship with the local community. Residents can participate in one of these week-long trips during their residency. Funding for the trip is provided by global health scholarships and the Department of Otolaryngology. The time spent on the global health trip does not count toward a resident’s vacation time.
For residents who would like to make a greater commitment to global health and care of medically underserved people, Rush Otolaryngology offers a global health track. Interested residents can apply for to admission to this track in the second half of their PG1 year. The global health track has three core components:
The global health track includes two one-week experiences abroad when residents will learn about and provide surgical otolaryngology care for a population in an underserved community. These trips are bridged by a longitudinal care experience in a Rush-sponsored clinic for the underserved in Chicago. The resident will develop a quality improvement project after the first global health trip to be implemented during the second trip and submitted for publication upon completion.
The otolaryngology global health site director is Ashok Jagasia, MD who has been actively engaged in global and community health for many years. He has made multiple surgical trips to the Dominican Republic and has participated in several projects in rural India. He has also been working with the homeless population in Chicago.
As they train in the global health track, residents will become able to assess the needs of the community they will be serving and develop strategies for improving otolaryngology care in that community. They will participate in the process of mobilizing and utilizing resources to support the logistics and planning of a surgical global health trip. Residents in the track will also develop awareness of the unique professional responsibilities and ethical challenges of practicing surgical care on a time and resource limited global health trip.