Center for Global Health expands Travel Grant Program to Support Trainees, Faculty Mentors Leading Student Groups Abroad

View Photos

Nurturing student demand and interests for global health experiences is part of the core mission of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Center for Global Health (CGH). In order to support the great interest, the MUSC CGH recently released a grant announcement to fund travel grants for trainees who are pursuing global health research, service or educational projects. The grant program was first launched last spring, and due to the success and overwhelming response, the MUSC CGH is expanding the number of awards from six to 10 this year. “Our goal with these grants is to help students undertake fieldwork experience that is at the very heart of their desire to become a health care professional,” said Kathleen Ellis, Director of Operations, MUSC CGH. “Whether it’s battling HIV in Tanzania, tackling dental care in Ecuador or improving clinical care in Haiti, these students and residents are gaining irreplaceable hands-on knowledge and perspective of how differently medicine is delivered half a world away.”

The Trainee Global Health Travel Grant gives students and resident trainees the opportunity to submit applications for funding up to $2,000 for projects in low and middle-income countries. Funds must be applied to education, research, or service-learning project and used within a year from the award date. The deadline for proposal submissions is February 12, 2014. Application criteria can be found on the website.

With increasing student interest to develop skills abroad comes a need for committed faculty mentors in global health. To encourage faculty mentorship, the MUSC CGH has launched a new travel grant program to support faculty mentors leading students groups abroad for global health projects. “Several of our faculty members volunteer a great deal of their time and effort when it comes to mentoring and leading groups of students abroad for global health projects,” said Ellis. “We felt it was important to develop a mechanism to recognize these faculty’s efforts as they are instrumental in guiding the future leaders in health care.”

The MUSC CGH’s goal in releasing this grant opportunity is to assist recipients in providing mentorship to students in furthering global health research or training projects in low- or middle-income countries. The deadline for faculty mentor grants is February 12, 2014. Eligibility for this newly developed program is limited to MUSC personnel who have a primary faculty appointment with no existing funding for the proposed program. Students have long realized that their ambition to impact health care on a global scale requires direction from seasoned practitioners. “The faculty at MUSC are incredibly supportive of both resident and student involvement in global health initiatives,” said Catherine Foster, a 2013 Trainee Global Health Travel Grant awardee and pediatric resident.

For full announcement details, visit the Center for Global Health website.