{"id":6805,"date":"2017-12-28T07:00:40","date_gmt":"2017-12-28T12:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feminem.org\/?p=6805"},"modified":"2018-01-26T09:57:52","modified_gmt":"2018-01-26T14:57:52","slug":"global-emergency-medicine-home-think-global-act-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feminem.org\/2017\/12\/28\/global-emergency-medicine-home-think-global-act-local\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Emergency Medicine from Home \u2013 Think Global, Act Local"},"content":{"rendered":"
Picturing a career in global health, many people envision constant world travel, a jet setting lifestyle that is not amenable to having young children or other ties to a certain home location. \u00a0Many physicians have told me they have \u201cgiven up\u201d global health work during a certain period of time, despite having a continued passion for the field. Some have never even pursued their dream of working in global health in the first place because they felt they did not have extended time to dedicate to traveling. All too often, these physicians are women who set aside their dreams to care for family members such as children or parents. And between the demands of medical school, residency, and attending life, it might seem challenging to imagine how people metaphorically \u201cstay in the game\u201d with global health work, outside the ivory towers of academics.<\/p>\n
There are so many ways to be involved in meaningful global health work that don\u2019t necessitate spending months or years of your life abroad. Take it from a physician mom who has only spent 3 months \u201cin the field\u201d over my fifteen years working in global health. I\u2019ve never practiced emergency medicine outside the United States. I wasn\u2019t part of the response to the earthquake in Haiti, nor have I ever responded to any natural disaster. I wasn\u2019t on the front lines saving lives during the most recent Ebola epidemic. I wish I could have done those things. I have the utmost respect for those who did and continue to do things like that, but that hasn\u2019t been my role yet in life, for a number of personal reasons. And yet, I\u2019ve spent time almost every single day of those past fifteen years doing global health work, and I believe it has made a true impact. I will attempt to detail a number of ways in which you could continue to push forward a career in global health and never have to set your dreams aside. Those ways fall into the following three categories: time, knowledge, and money.<\/p>\n
Time<\/strong><\/p>\n Knowledge<\/strong><\/p>\n Money<\/strong><\/p>\n There is a dire need for funding for many global health endeavors, and a small donation can often go much further when it\u2019s spent in a low-income country. Sometimes, particularly in the case of disaster response, providing money may be more effective than trying to make an individual trip to provide medical care (as well as often being more effective than providing imported medical supplies or items like clothing, which may be able to be sourced locally more cheaply and easily).\u00a0 Many of the projects I have noted above are nonprofit in nature and rely on donated support to provide the services they offer. Consider adding an organization that supports international emergency medicine development or global health to your holiday giving list. If you\u2019ve got no time to spare, and don\u2019t feel able to provide knowledge through the channels listed here, your financial support could still be a critical part of bringing emergency medical care to places where it is desperately needed.<\/p>\n I urge you, if you hope to start or continue working in the field of global health in the future, consider joining one or more of the organizations above, and participating in global health-related events at conferences like ACEP or SAEM. All are welcome, even if you do not have extensive field experience or are unable to currently travel for whatever reason. The networking you can do with a constellation of fascinating people and the knowledge you will gain in the process will be an invaluable foundation for your future global health work, whatever it may be.<\/p>\n Do you know of other ways that physicians with a passion for global health and international emergency medicine can stay in the game without leaving their hometown? Please comment and share!<\/p>\n Disclaimer: I practice what I preach and have participated in or continue to participate in most of the listed opportunities above, including running a global health nonprofit and the @globalfoamed curriculum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Picturing a career in global health, many people envision constant world travel, a jet setting lifestyle that is not amenable to having young children or other ties to a certain home location. \u00a0Many physicians have told me they have \u201cgiven…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":7237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"@Alisonation on how you can do global EM from home!","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[29,36,45],"coauthors":[294],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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