Award for global health residency track brings grant program full circle
By Sam Marie Engle
First-year residents Fiza Khan and Zofia Lasiecka are Emory Radiology’s newest “adoptees” under the Adopt-A-Resident Program. The team plans to create a Global Health Track for the Diagnostic Radiology and Interventional Radiology Residency programs.
Dr. Khan and Dr. Lasiecka will use the $10,000 grant award plus faculty mentorship to develop and implement a structured curriculum spanning the four years of residency. The curriculum will address public health and policy issues, explore the challenges involved in improving access to radiology services in limited-resource settings, and cultivate residents’ cultural competency while building their clinical and teaching skills.
The project is personal for both doctors.
“Being born in Kashmir and growing up in the United States, I was exposed to extreme health-care disparities,” says Dr. Khan. “Through my work with the Muslim Health Professions Student Collaborative, I saw how much of an impact grassroots work could have on patient outcomes in New York City; however, volunteering at the hospitals in Islamabad and the rural clinics of Kashmir enabled me to see the sheer magnitude of health-care inequality. As a radiology resident at Emory, I am in a position to help narrow what seems like a never-ending gap in care and in training.”
Collaborative teaching and learning will be hallmarks of the track, says Dr. Lasiecka. “At the time of my volunteer work, Tanzania had only one physician per 50,000 patients. It opened my eyes to the need for locally trained physicians to ensure sustainability of initiatives to address profound disparities in access to care. In my last year of medical school at the University of Virginia, I was inspired by the robust involvement of radiologists in global health efforts and was inspired by the strong emphasis on teaching and the creation of self-sustainable solutions.”
The award brings Emory Radiology’s global health efforts full circle. Dr. Ali Tahvildari, the Adopt-A-Resident program’s second grantee, used his grant to create the Global Health Radiology Initiative in 2009 with the Addis Ababa University Department of Radiology and the Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. That project enjoyed such success, it in turn inspired the School of Medicine to establish the Global Health Residency Scholars Program engaging residents and fellows from fifteen departments plus six divisions in the Department of Internal Medicine.
The residents envision the first two years of the Global Health Track consisting of monthly lectures, simulation labs, and field trips to build core competencies. A hands-on ultrasound bootcamp will help first-year residents develop proficiency with the most readily available imaging modality for both diagnostic screening and image-guided procedures. Residents then will engage in supervised volunteer service with local partners to further enhance their imaging skills.
One such partner site is the Clarkston Imaging Clinic, established with the help of a 2019 Adopt-A-Resident grant to Chief Resident Dr. Charlotte Chung and fellow resident Dr. Dean Thongkam. That connection will help residents understand that global health initiatives are as important in under-resourced American communities like Clarkston, which is home to a large, highly diverse refugee and immigrant community, as they are in Ethiopia and Tanzania.
Residents will conceptualize a capstone project in their third year. Seminars on grant writing and project planning, as well as co-learning via international case conferences will help develop the skills needed to implement the capstone project plan in year four. Throughout the track residents can partner with local or international organizations involved in global health through programs such as the Emory Global Health Residency Scholars Program, RadAid, or Road 2IR.
“By harnessing the clinical strengths of our residency program and the expertise of global and regional partners, the Global Health Track provides future radiologists a structured format to pursue sustainable development goals with the mentorship and experience needed for success,” says faculty mentor Dr. Jay Shah. “The collaborative curriculum is centered on innovation and implementation and based in the classroom of the world.”
The award to establish the Global Health Track continues the tradition of tracking resident-led curricular innovation: Adopt-A-Resident grantees Dr. Dexter Mendoza created the Clinical Education Track in 2015; Dr. Patricia Balthazar developed the Integrated Imaging Informatics Track in 2017; and Dr. Alex Dabrowiecki established the Medical Innovation Track in 2018. Residents additionally can follow the Research Track or match into the Molecular Imaging in Medicine Track.
“Our goal is for every Emory Radiology resident to participate in at least one track as part of their residency training,” says Dr. Mark Mullins, Emory Radiology Vice Chair for Education. “We believe the tracks are key to preparing our residents to succeed in the twenty-first century.”
The Global Health Track also will help radiology residents in partner programs in Tanzania and Ethiopia prepare to succeed in the 21st century.
“We hope to reduce the gap in access to medical imaging by providing the next generation of radiologists with the tools required to successfully engage in the world of global and public health and undertake sustainable projects,” says mentor Dr. Hernan Bello, who participated in the Global Health Scholars Program while he led the Clinical Educator Track during his Emory Radiology residency and who is completing a fellowship in abdominal imaging before joining the Emory Radiology faculty July 1.
It's a small world, after all.
First-year residents Fiza Khan and Zofia Lasiecka are Emory Radiology’s newest “adoptees” under the Adopt-A-Resident Program. The team plans to create a Global Health Track for the Diagnostic Radiology and Interventional Radiology Residency programs.
Dr. Khan and Dr. Lasiecka will use the $10,000 grant award plus faculty mentorship to develop and implement a structured curriculum spanning the four years of residency. The curriculum will address public health and policy issues, explore the challenges involved in improving access to radiology services in limited-resource settings, and cultivate residents’ cultural competency while building their clinical and teaching skills.
The project is personal for both doctors.
“Being born in Kashmir and growing up in the United States, I was exposed to extreme health-care disparities,” says Dr. Khan. “Through my work with the Muslim Health Professions Student Collaborative, I saw how much of an impact grassroots work could have on patient outcomes in New York City; however, volunteering at the hospitals in Islamabad and the rural clinics of Kashmir enabled me to see the sheer magnitude of health-care inequality. As a radiology resident at Emory, I am in a position to help narrow what seems like a never-ending gap in care and in training.”
Collaborative teaching and learning will be hallmarks of the track, says Dr. Lasiecka. “At the time of my volunteer work, Tanzania had only one physician per 50,000 patients. It opened my eyes to the need for locally trained physicians to ensure sustainability of initiatives to address profound disparities in access to care. In my last year of medical school at the University of Virginia, I was inspired by the robust involvement of radiologists in global health efforts and was inspired by the strong emphasis on teaching and the creation of self-sustainable solutions.”
The award brings Emory Radiology’s global health efforts full circle. Dr. Ali Tahvildari, the Adopt-A-Resident program’s second grantee, used his grant to create the Global Health Radiology Initiative in 2009 with the Addis Ababa University Department of Radiology and the Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. That project enjoyed such success, it in turn inspired the School of Medicine to establish the Global Health Residency Scholars Program engaging residents and fellows from fifteen departments plus six divisions in the Department of Internal Medicine.
The residents envision the first two years of the Global Health Track consisting of monthly lectures, simulation labs, and field trips to build core competencies. A hands-on ultrasound bootcamp will help first-year residents develop proficiency with the most readily available imaging modality for both diagnostic screening and image-guided procedures. Residents then will engage in supervised volunteer service with local partners to further enhance their imaging skills.
One such partner site is the Clarkston Imaging Clinic, established with the help of a 2019 Adopt-A-Resident grant to Chief Resident Dr. Charlotte Chung and fellow resident Dr. Dean Thongkam. That connection will help residents understand that global health initiatives are as important in under-resourced American communities like Clarkston, which is home to a large, highly diverse refugee and immigrant community, as they are in Ethiopia and Tanzania.
Residents will conceptualize a capstone project in their third year. Seminars on grant writing and project planning, as well as co-learning via international case conferences will help develop the skills needed to implement the capstone project plan in year four. Throughout the track residents can partner with local or international organizations involved in global health through programs such as the Emory Global Health Residency Scholars Program, RadAid, or Road 2IR.
“By harnessing the clinical strengths of our residency program and the expertise of global and regional partners, the Global Health Track provides future radiologists a structured format to pursue sustainable development goals with the mentorship and experience needed for success,” says faculty mentor Dr. Jay Shah. “The collaborative curriculum is centered on innovation and implementation and based in the classroom of the world.”
The award to establish the Global Health Track continues the tradition of tracking resident-led curricular innovation: Adopt-A-Resident grantees Dr. Dexter Mendoza created the Clinical Education Track in 2015; Dr. Patricia Balthazar developed the Integrated Imaging Informatics Track in 2017; and Dr. Alex Dabrowiecki established the Medical Innovation Track in 2018. Residents additionally can follow the Research Track or match into the Molecular Imaging in Medicine Track.
“Our goal is for every Emory Radiology resident to participate in at least one track as part of their residency training,” says Dr. Mark Mullins, Emory Radiology Vice Chair for Education. “We believe the tracks are key to preparing our residents to succeed in the twenty-first century.”
The Global Health Track also will help radiology residents in partner programs in Tanzania and Ethiopia prepare to succeed in the 21st century.
“We hope to reduce the gap in access to medical imaging by providing the next generation of radiologists with the tools required to successfully engage in the world of global and public health and undertake sustainable projects,” says mentor Dr. Hernan Bello, who participated in the Global Health Scholars Program while he led the Clinical Educator Track during his Emory Radiology residency and who is completing a fellowship in abdominal imaging before joining the Emory Radiology faculty July 1.
It's a small world, after all.