Site Locations
Site locations for field training are evolving as BIDMC's Global Health Faculty continues to nurture partnerships abroad. In the past, residents were able to go to many different sites as listed below. In the future years we are planning to establish dedicated sites that guarantee an optimal educational experience for the resident, a supportive mentorship relationship and at the same time serve the local community.
Our main site will be the Scottish Livingstone Hospital in Botswana. Projects outside of the established site in Botswana will continue to be possible if the resident carries particular interest in a specific location or project especially for residents outside of the Department of Medicine.
The following are sites and collaborative programs that residents and faculty have been involved with in the past and where research or clinical activities are ongoing or are potential sites for future work.
The field of global health has evolved to transcend the 'international' and instead embrace the concepts of resource limitation, political marginalization and advocacy. Residents are encouraged to serve in one of many community health centers that serve largely marginalized populations.
Other BIDMC Medicine Affiliated Sites
Vietnam
Other International Sites Visited by Our Residents
Africa
Groote Shuur Hospital , Cape Town, South Africa: Government-funded hospital affiliated with the University of Cape Town Medical School. Residents have participated in clinical rotations at this large training hospital. BIDMC contact - Dr. Simon Robson
Botswana Harvard HIV project, Scottish Livingstone Hospital: Care for HIV patients in this newly-constructed government hospital located in Molepolole, Botswana. BIDMC contact - Dr. Roger Shapiro
Tiyatien Health, Liberia: A unique assembly of Liberia- and US-based health professionals developing stable, long-term improvements in public sector delivery of primary healthcare in impoverished areas. BIDMC contacts - Drs. Lindsay Kim and Giovanna Leddy
Lusaka, Zambia: Large private clinic through local contact Dr. Michael Wong. Potential to include some field work at local orphanages through an NGO called the Flip Flop Foundation.
Democratic Republic of Congo - Panzi Hospital: A 250-bed hospital with ob/gyn, medicine, pediatrics, and general surgery. Opportunities for residents to work clinically at the hospital and engage in teaching. This facility is known for treating sexual assault victims.
Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Program: BIDMC general internist Dr. Lachlan Forrow, is currently President of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship (ASF) and Vice President of the governing Council of the Schweitzer Hospital. In 1940, the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship was founded in the United States to support Dr. Schweitzer’s medical work in Africa during World War II. Since Dr. Schweitzer's death in 1965, the Fellowship has continued to provide direct assistance to the Schweitzer Hospital in Lambaréné and, and more recently, to underserved communities within the United States. BIDMC is a sister hospital and home to the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Program, which trains physicians to help underserved people throughout America and the world.
Asia
Wockhardt Hospital, Cama & Albess Hospital, Bombay Hospital, et al.: Several residents have performed clinical rotations in Mumbai and have studied patterns in HIV care and barriers to cervical cancer screening. BIDMC contacts - Drs. Todd Pollack, Anita Vanka Harvey Makadon.
Hua Shan University, Shanghai, China: Former residents have studied health care delivery systems in China, with a specific emphasis on hepatitis B and tuberculosis infection treatment and management in a tertiary medical center in an urban center.
Sri Ramachandra Medical College, Chennai, India: BIDMC contact - Dr. Harvey Makadon.
Sassoon General Hospital, Pune, India: Sassoon General Hospital is affiliated with B.J. Medical College in Pune, India. It is a 500-bed, state-run teaching hospital with a residency program in internal medicine. Former resident JoEllyn Abraham, MD, studied the management and manifestations of cardiovascular disease in an underserved population.
Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia: Former resident Keri Shafer, MD, worked with a group of physicians to identify and treat congenital heart disease with a group called "Searching for the Broken Hearts."
Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China: After working with an earthquake relief program, former resident Charlotte Wu, MD, participated in clinical rotations in Beijing. She was supervised by Yao Zhang, MD, one of the main coordinators for the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) international rotating resident program. This is also the hospital site for the Beijing away-elective for UCSF internal medicine resident.
Health care policy, Pskov, Russia: This project is presently focused on grade school and teen prevention programs for sexual health, safety, and drug abuse prevention. The broader project will begin addressing obesity/diabetes and cardiovascular health through dietary education and smoking prevention programs.
Philippine General Hospital, Manila: Based at Philippine General Hospital in Manila, the largest governmental hospital in the country, this resident-faculty exchange is open to residents to carry out their research/elective rotation as a resident in their program. It is a rare opportunity to work in a resource poor setting with supervision, tremendous teaching opportunities and possibility for research. Rotations on the general Ob/Gyn service, MFM, GYN-ONC, OB infectious Disease and Gestational Trophoblastic Disease are available. This relationship between institutions is meant to lead to exchange of residents between the two institutions. Currently, joint research is being carried out by Drs. Christopher Awtrey and Michele Hacker and the faculty at PGH in the area of gestational trophoblastic disease.
North America
Indian Health Service: The Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for providing federal health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives. Several residents have participated in IHS rotations in New Mexico and Alaska.
Europe
Meyer Pediatric Hospital , Florence, Italy: Opportunities to be involved in the daily care of pediatric trauma patients and to gain experience learning about how to develop a trauma center; improve systems issues to streamline patient throughput and participate in research initiatives studying the impact and safety of our interventions.
Corky Ribakoff Women's Clinic, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine: BIDMC has a longstanding partnership with Corky Ribakoff Women's Clinic in Dnepropetrovsk in the Ukraine. Established in 1995, residents and faculty in the past have worked together to develop long term projects such as cervical screening and mammography.
Yale/Johnson & Johnson Physician Scholars in International Health
By placing physicians trained in the US face-to-face with the broad range of health care needs in the developing world, the Yale International Health Program (IHP) hopes to instill a sense of global citizenry and create local and international community activists in health. The established program sites are in Eritrea, Honduras; Tugela Ferry, South Africa; Ugana and Vietnam. Two medicine residents in the last two years have received grants through the Yale/Johnson & Johnson Scholars in International Health Program.
Potential Sites
Residents have taken significant initiative in organizing elective/research rotations. Over the past 5 years, residents have worked with Marie Stopes in London, an NGO in Indonesia, a fistula hospital in Addis Ababa, a large public hospital in Zambia, a clinic in Japan and a hospital in Kiev, Ukraine. All of these sites may potentially act as future placement sites if there is interest expressed by a resident to expand the experience.
Community Health Centers
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has traditionally maintained the strongest possible relationships with clinics and the communities it serves. To learn more about how BIDMC is working side by side with community health centers, click here.
The Dimock Center: The Dimock Center is an important community institution serving Boston's inner-city neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain and Roslindale. Located on nine historic acres in the heart of the Egleston Square section of Roxbury, Dimock provides vital health and human services to thousands of individuals and families each year. Dimock is an important community asset to the entire City of Boston, and considered a national model of integrated comprehensive health and human services.
South Cove Community Health Center: South Cove provides medical and behavioral health services and youth and family programs for approximately 23,000 clients at four locations in the greater Boston area. Their mission is to improve the health and well being of Asian Americans in Massachusetts, with a special focus on the medically underserved by providing high quality, community-based health care and programs which are accessible and linguistically and culturally competent for these populations.
Fenway Health: The mission of Fenway Health is to enhance the physical and mental health of its community, which includes those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, the people who live and work in our neighborhood, and beyond. Fenway provides high quality, comprehensive health care in a welcoming environment and seeks to improve the overall health of the larger community, locally and nationally, through education and training, policy and advocacy, and research and evaluation.
Bowdoin Street Health Center: Bowdoin Street Health Center has been an active participant in the Dorchester community for over 30 years and offers care for infants, children, teens, adults and seniors. Their multicultural staff of physicians and nurse practitioners specialize in each of these areas, so they can meet the needs of all age groups.
Outer Cape Health Services: Outer Cape is a federally funded not-for-profit community health center. Their mission is to provide high quality primary healthcare to those living in or visiting the eight towns of Lower and Outer Cape Cod, regardless of their financial circumstances. Our vision is to ensure that all people on Lower and Outer Cape Cod have access to high quality, affordable primary healthcare.
Joseph M. Smith Community Health Center: Since 1974, they have been serving the residents of Allston, Brighton, Waltham and surrounding communities. Board-certified Family Practice physicians and Nurse Practitioners provide high quality, culturally competent, affordable care to people of all ages, from newborns to seniors.
Sidney Borum, Jr. Health Center: The Sidney Borum, Jr. Health Center is dedicated to providing the best quality health care for youth and young adults ages 12 to 29 who may not feel comfortable going anywhere else.
