Global Health Clinical Elective in Tanzania Block 8 (January 28-February 22, 2019) RFA

Scholarship and Placement Limited to Two (2) Fourth-Year Medical Students
Application Deadline: June 12, 2018, at 5 pm EST
Earliest Anticipated Award Date: July 20, 2018

The MUSC Center for Global Health, MUSC Heart and Vascular, and MUSC College of Medicine have partnered to provide a four-week global health elective in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania during Block 8. Two (2) fourth-year medical students will be selected and funded to travel to Tanzania where they will be exposed to a wide spectrum of heart diseases in addition to problems not commonly seen in the US such as malaria, typhoid, and rheumatic heart disease. Fourth-year medical students with a genuine interest in global health and in caring for underserved populations are encouraged to apply.

This rotation will expose the student to 1) medical care at a national hospital (Muhimbili National Hospital) in a developing country that has recently invested in an advanced cardiac center and 2) participation in a rural outreach clinic where MUSC and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (the national university) have an active, NIH-funded field research site focused on large-scale community-based prevention and care programs, including integration of screening for non-communicable diseases with HIV testing. Students will participate in all aspects of the care of medical patients at the Advanced Cardiac Center at Muhimbili National Hospital. This will include daily inpatient ward rounds, outpatient clinics, ICU, and emergency room management of medical patients.

The scholarship awarded will be $2500 per person to go towards the cost of travel expenses to Tanzania. The remainder of the cost of travel expenses/lodging/meals/etc will be the responsibility of the student.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be rising MS4 students in good standing and registered MUSC full-time students.
• Applications received after the deadline will not be accepted.
• Incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Submission of Application

The process includes combining the following documents as a single PDF and emailing them to ellisk@musc.edu

1. Personal essay. Applicants must write a letter in first person, no more than one-page single space, about what they want to get out of the educational experience, and how that fits into their career development, and discuss their ability (background and experience) to carry out the project.
2. Letter of support from a faculty advisor. Provide a letter of support from an MUSC faculty member discussing the applicant’s potential and preparedness to undertake the project.
3. Current CV

Evaluation

• A review committee will evaluate the applications based upon the preparedness of the applicant to undertake the project, strength of the personal essay, and strength of the applicant’s background and experience.
• The top applicants from the first round of scoring will be invited to a brief interview with the panel where two finalists will be selected.

Award Requirements

• Recipients will be required to sign a notice of award letter outlining award requirements, which must be fulfilled as part of the funding.
• Award is contingent upon each applicant’s satisfactory participation in MUSC’s required pre-departure preparation process. Failure to actively participate in and complete the pre-departure preparation process can result in revocation of the award.
• Funds may be used for pre-travel immunizations, visa/passport fees, airfare, program fees, and room and board related to your global health experience. Travel and accommodation (amounts, items, class of airfare, etc) must adhere to MUSC’s travel policies.

Please direct inquiries related to this announcement to:

Kathleen Ellis
Director of Operations
MUSC Center for Global Health
843.792.5602
ellisk@musc.edu