Global Health Initiative

The Global Health Initiative in the Department of Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine takes an innovative approach to global health and human rights education, research, and solution building. Our goals are three-fold:

1. To train physicians in how to responsibly engage in medical work with foreign born patients, both at home and abroad
2. To conduct innovative research in global health and human rights
3. To implement programs both locally and internationally that result in positive shifts in the care of foreign born patients.

Uniquely, our group approaches global health work through the lense of medical anthropology, to understand the root causes of ill health and disease. 

Gunisha Kaur, MD, MA
Teaching Global Health video | Dr. Gunisha Kaur                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Our Purpose

The Global Health Initiative aims to foster enhanced care of foreign-born patients through education, research and  programming. Our approach acknowledges that global health work is not limited to the developing world; rather, individuals and diseases freely cross transnational boundaries. We therefore focus on the care of foreign-born patients, both locally in the United States and abroad.

Further, our work takes an anthropological approach to care. Traditional models of global health work have typically been constrained to medical mission work which focuses on discrete medical interventions, often in the absence of understanding the biopsychosocial context of a region. Our education, research, and programming instead have at their core the anthropological understanding of critical issues that impact health, such as economics, gender and politics.

Education

The goal of our educational programming is to empower healthcare workers with a fundamental understanding of the biopsychosocial context that influences health and healthcare. By doing so, we believe that care of foreign-born patients both locally and abroad will be more responsible and sustainable. Our programs consist of an undergraduate teaching course at Cornell University in Ithaca, resident physician training, and faculty and fellow education.

From left: Drs. Sheida Tabaie, Shiyin Zhu, Lee Rasamny, Eric Brumberger, Meghann Fitzgerald, Gunisha Kaur, Swetha Pakala and Jingyi Li at our partner hospital in India.

Research

Our research projects focus on applying scientific methodology to global health and human rights issues. These investigations involve faculty, residents and students in projects ranging from cross-institutional studies on education and curriculum development to clinical research on chronic pain in refugee survivors of torture. Funding from the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER), the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs, and the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies has supported our work.

Implementation Programs

The Punjab Institute is our flagship program in India which leverages the expertise of healthcare providers, non-profit organizations, educators, and activists to create sustainable change on the ground in India. Our work in Rwanda is made possible by our partnership with ASA-CASIEF through the overseas training programs.

Global Health

Contact

Dr. Gunisha Kaur, MD, MA
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Director, Global Health Initiative
Program Director, Anesthesia Global Health Fellowship
email: gus2004@med.cornell.edu  

 

Related Information
Weill Cornell Medicine Center for Global Health

Weill Cornell Anesthesiology Global Health Initiative

Contact Us

Dept. of Anesthesiology
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medicine
525 East 68th Street, Box 124
New York, NY 10065

Office of the Chair
Phone: (212) 746-2962
E-mail:  Office of the Chair, anesthesiology-chair@med.cornell.edu

Residency and Fellowship Education
Direct all inquiries to:
Phone: (212) 746-2941
E-mail: anes-programs@med.cornell.edu
For trainee verification inquiries: anes-verification@med.cornell.edu

Patient Billing Inquiries
Phone: (646) 962-5700