Global Health Track

Global Health Track for Medical Students at West Virginia University School of Medicine

The Global Health Track (GHT) is available for WVU medical students and begins during the summer between first and second year.  The purpose of the GHT is to provide additional training and experience in global health to WVU students throughout their four years of medical school and to attract excellent students to WVU School of Medicine who have a special interest in global health.

Requirements for Global Health Track

1. Completion of WVU Clinical Tropical Medicine and Traveler’s Health Course by fourth year of medical school.
   1. Modules 1, 2, and 4 of the course are online only.  Module 3 is held live on Zoom for one week every year during July.  Students in the Global Health Track are strongly encouraged to take Module 3 in July between their first and second year.  If this is not possible, then the student will need to take Module 3 between third and fourth year.
   2. There is no additional tuition fee for medical students for the Clinical Tropical Medicine and Traveler’s Health Course.
   3. It is required that students in the GHT take at least two of the four modules in the summer between their first and second year in order to facilitate planning electives in their fourth year.
   4. Students in the Global Health Track who choose to take only two or three modules of the course between first and second year will need to take the remaining modules during their fourth year as an elective.  After completion of the entire course, the student will receive a certificate of completion of the course and recognition by the WVU School of Medicine as having completed the Global Health Track.  He/She will be eligible to sit for the national exam offered by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene after graduation, and after completing two months of clinical work in a tropical and/or developing country (ASTMH.org)
2. Students must be in good academic and professional standing in order to apply and be considered for the Global Health Track.
   1. The rest of the benefits and requirements of the Global Health Track include:
      1. Option to take a global elective for two months during the fourth year (instead of the usual one month) and eligibility for a Global Health Program Scholarship to help defray the cost of a global elective.
      2. Opportunities for participation and leadership in many activities associated with global health throughout second, third, and fourth years (Students for Global Health, Circa Terra, Medical Spanish Association, and Physicians for Human Rights). GHT students are expected to participate in one or more of these student groups.
      3. Recognition by the School of Medicine as having successfully completed the WVU Global Health Track.

Apply

Download the Application

Student applicants will be selected by a faculty committee. If you have any questions, contact Melanie Fisher, MD, Director of the Global Health Program at mfisher@hsc.wvu.edu, or Rebecca Reece, MD, Associate Director of the Global Health Program at rreece@hsc.wvu.edu.