For COVID-19 vaccine updates, please review our information guide and sign up for Connect. Continue your routine care with us by scheduling an in-person appointment or Video Visit.
Our flagship residency programs take place in Rwanda and in India, and engage Cornell Anesthesia residents, fellows and faculty in international health issues, both as physicians and as globally-conscious individuals. Both of these fully-funded experiences are Graduate Medical Education (GME) approved rotations. Additionally, the American Board of Anesthesiology grants credit while on the rotation toward the 36-month continuum of training in anesthesiology. Therefore, participating resident physicians do not need to use vacation time to participate in these electives.
During the mornings, faculty and residents actively participate in the medical care of patients or engage in education and training. Participants have an opportunity to spend time in the PACU and ICUs, and to participate in daily bi-directional teaching with our colleagues. Interesting anesthetic management of patients includes maintenance with halothane, anesthesia without opiates, laparoscopy under neuraxial techniques, peripheral nerve blocks without ultrasound, and difficult airways including patients with cleft palates and severe burn contractures.
The global health training portion of the elective is robust. Major programmatic focus areas include agriculture, the environment, human rights, gender studies, and development economics. Each of these areas is inextricably intertwined with health issues and only by understanding the economic, environmental, social and political milieu in which one is working will participation be responsible. For example, educational sessions include meeting employees of a human rights organization, time with social justice activists in the rural countryside, and visiting women’s economic collectives with an organization run by social entrepreneurs. This multifaceted approach to global health education allows physicians to achieve a holistic understanding of the issues that contribute to ill health and disease.
The course syllabus includes topics such as human rights, land and water access, and health impact of environmental damage. Residents and faculty mentors engage with the syllabus through a multimedia, interactive iBook created by our team. A sample week of the curriculum follows:
Week One: Medical Anthropology and a Biosocial Approach
The course syllabus is an interactive, multi-touch book on the iPad.
The Department of Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medical College is dedicated to developing the careers of anesthesiologists committed to academic global health work. The goal of the residency Global Health Track is to provide a select group of residents an advanced foundation and knowledge in global health and global anesthesia. The mechanism for this is to provide a dedicated curriculum during residency for specialty education, mentorship, and a scholarly pursuit project in global health.
The Global Health Track involves six weeks of extracurricular mentored training and education in global health during the CA-2 year. During the CA-3 year, the selected resident will either travel to India in the Spring or Fall Global Health Elective as one of four resident participants, travel to another programmatically developed global health site, or travel to an alternative global health site that is approved by the department; a global health scholarly pursuit project is to be completed in the CA-3 year; if the global health scholarly pursuit warrants, there is a possibility of receiving research time in the CA-3 year.
Expectations of the Global Health Track resident include:
Progress to each stage in the Global Health Track is contingent upon satisfactory progress in the preceding stage.
Resident physicians interested in the residency Global Health Track position should submit an application by May 1st of their CA-1 academic year. A completed application should be submitted to Dr. Sheida Tabaie at stb9054@med.cornell.edu, and includes:
Selection will be based on these items as well as on demonstrated interest in pursuing global health research. Only residents in good standing in the Residency Program based on Clinical Competence Committee evaluation, ITE scores, and faculty evaluations will be eligible and considered for the position.
Entry into the Global Health Track position begins July 1 of the CA-2 academic year. Prospective applicants who wish to discuss their scholarly pursuit interests for the residency Global Health Track position should contact Dr. Sheida Tabaie at stb9054@med.cornell.edu.
Support for national meeting attendance will be available to those who are presenting their original research as a first author at the ASA or AUA.
Requirements
Elective Expectations
Departmental Support
During the Global Health Elective and a result of participating in this elective, residents are expected to:
Patient Care
Medical Knowledge
Practice-Based Learning and Improvement
Interpersonal and Communication Skills
Professionalism
Systems-Based Practice
