The Duke Global Health Fellows Program: A Family Affair

Throughout the summer, SEAD interns will be sharing with us stories and experiences from their summer internships.  Our first post comes to us from Michael McNeil who participated in the Duke Global Health Fellows Program.  Based in Geneva, this internship gives students the opportunity to learn from a variety of global health-related organizations over the summer.

(From left to right) Myself, Luke, and Cabrina at Chateau Chillon in Montreux, Switzerland, about 1 hour from Geneva.

In four days my family and I will be returning to the United States after a whirlwind European adventure. Adventure is the only word that can adequately describe the incredible experience and opportunity that I gained as a member of the 2014 Duke Global Health Fellows Program.

This program allows students from around the country an opportunity to be involved with an eight-to-twelve week internship with a variety of international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) based in Geneva, Switzerland. Along with this internship is a weeklong course directed by Dr. Anthony So entitled “Health Policy in a Globalizing World”. In this course we receive a series of seminars and lectures by a variety of health professionals in multiple international organizations around Geneva as well as multiple site visits of several of those organizations. 

GAVI Alliance. One of the many sites we visited in Geneva.

I had the opportunity to work at the World Health Organization (WHO) in their division of Public Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property (PHI). My supervisor, Dr. Zafar Mirza, and I worked for several weeks on addressing a novel paradigm for the interaction between the principles and processes of innovation in health beyond just medical technology. As a medical student at Duke University School of Medicine, I have become increasingly interested in this interface between innovation and health and how certain international policies both within health and outside of health impact the capacity of developing nations to build sustainable and quality products for those individuals within their respected regions and nations. 

It was an outstanding opportunity to meet important players and stakeholders in the world of health policy and I gained many invaluable experiences working under the leadership of Dr. Mirza. One of the most exciting components of my work is that because of the size and scope of my project, there will be many opportunities for me to continue to collaborate with the rest of the PHI team and work on this project even after my internship has finished.

However, even with the unbelievable experiences I gained during my internship, I also had many other impactful experiences just by being in Geneva where the world of international policy lies. In May of this year the 67th World Health Assembly (WHA) was held at the Palais des Nations, where delegates from the 193 member states of the United Nations convene to draft and vote on important resolutions that will determine the scope and focus of the WHO in the upcoming years. As a medical student, who spent the vast majority of my academic years studying the basic sciences, I was ignorant to the processes and protocol of policy making.

This was a fast-paced event and I had the chance to see a variety of different meetings including the passing of a multiple resolutions, several side-events ranging from Anti-microbial resistance, Palliative Care, access to medicines, intellectual property and health, among others. The keynote speakers this year were Dr. Christine Kaseba-Sata, the First Lady of Zambia who gave a powerful discourse on the devastating impact that gender violence has on the world and she was followed by Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Her speech on the increasing needs to address simple maternal, newborn, and child health needs hit home as I aspire to become a pediatrician and will be applying to different pediatric residencies this upcoming fall. 

The adventures continued as a few short weeks after the WHA, I had the chance to listen to for Secretary-General Kofi Annan speak and have a frank discussion on the needs of UN, international policy, and what the future generation can provide to address these urgent issues. Once again it was an eye-opening and powerful discussion and was an encouraging motivator to become involved in advocacy and policy, especially while in our formative years, as these experiences will be foundational in our future life-trajectory.

Melinda Gates at the 67th WHA

Obligatory selfie as Kofi Annan signs my book

While the experiences were enlightening, and inspiring, one of the most powerful opportunities that I had while an intern at the WHO, and as a Duke global health fellow, was the chance to meet many incredible young professionals from around the world who have the same passion and excitement for international health and policy like myself. From the other interns at the WHO came from a wide variety of backgrounds, to the fellows who had such incredible experiences that they have already had in providing essential care and help to those in need. I was humbled and inspired by my colleagues and associates. However, as incredible as their CVs were, what was even more awe-inspiring was how humble, friendly, and genuinely sincere they were. I have made several great friends through this experience and I am excited to see where there career paths take them as I am sure many of them will be pivotal leaders in the field of international health in the not-so-distant future.

Of course, the title of this blog has two components. The first is that of the program and the different opportunities and experiences I gained as a Duke global health fellow, and the second is about my family. I was lucky enough to have my wife Cabrina and our almost 2-year old son Luke come and participate in this amazing experience. 

We stayed in a 2-bedroom apartment in a town called Annemasse that is actually in France and borders the city of Geneva. It was quite the journey travelling through Europe and living with a 2-year old but my wife is a rock and an incredible mother who was absolutely fantastic with our son, while she was learning French and gaining a rich, multi-cultural experience visiting various sites through Geneva and Europe. They were a constant support during this experience and to have them go through this with me provided me a stability, a comfort, and an excitement for life that I wouldn’t have gained otherwise. We had several excursions during our weekends including visits to Munich, Barcelona, Naples, Interlaken, Paris and a variety of other expeditions around the area that could not have been had any where else. It was absolutely exhausting, but it was incredible.

There are moments in each individual’s lives where the path that they are on is forever altered and influenced by certain seminal events. This opportunity that I have had the chance to be a part of these past few months is one of those transformative experiences. I will never be the same after participating in this program. The things I have learned about policy, health, and intercultural relationships will be critical as I continue to pursue my career in international medicine. The friendships and networks I have gained will provide me a group of individuals who I can lean on and gain valuable insight and collaboration in my future endeavors. Most importantly, the powerful impact that this has had on my family has helped us grow closer together, and provided us an experience that we will always cherish and never forget.