Case Competition Judging and Presentations:
February 13, 2016, Sarratt Cinema starting at 8:00 AM
- Jon Andereck, Emily Sheldon, Erin Hamilton, Shellese Shemwell, Kaya Zhu and Ajay Sundaram were the winners of the 2015 Global Health Case Competition. Here they are representing Vanderbilt at the Emory International Case
Participants in this university-wide competition work as interdisciplinary teams to develop and present an innovative solution to a complex, real-life global health problem. Teams consist of four to six students representing at least three different Vanderbilt schools (Blair School of Music, College of Arts and Science, Divinity School, Graduate School, Law School, Owen Graduate School of Management, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, School of Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Nursing). Students from all disciplines, backgrounds, and levels of experience participate each year.
The case may involve issues such as health care policy, international trade, child health and development, biomedical engineering, gender equality, emergency response, or chronic disease prevention, but the specific case remains a mystery until the competition kick-off on February 7, 2016. Participants do not need to have any knowledge of the case topic, nor do they need a background in medicine or health. The most successful teams take a pragmatic, multidisciplinary approach to the case and design a feasible and sustainable response given the outlined constraints.
One team strategizes before their presentation at the 2015 Vanderbilt Global Health Case Competition.
When the case is revealed on February 7, 2016, teams will receive a packet of information and competition guidelines. They will spend the next 5 days researching, analyzing and preparing their recommendations on the case, which they will present on Saturday, February 13th to a panel of expert judges, including an esteemed World Health Organization representative, and audience members. Additionally, a case competition strategy session will be provided the week leading up to the case reveal in order to better support and prepare students. The winning team will represent Vanderbilt University at the annual Emory International Global Health Competition on April 8, 2016.
The 2015 Vanderbilt case centered around the issue of family planning in Niger. Teams provided innovative, cost-effective recommendations aimed at reducing the high birth rate and child and maternal mortality for the country. The diversity of creative solutions proposed included innovative birth spacing methods, a micro-lending operation, and community health worker driven outreach. You can find more information about previous cases here.
Participants and Judges at the 2015 Vanderbilt Global Health Case Competition.
For more information on the case competition, visit the VIGH Student Advisory Council’s website, www.vanderbilt.edu/vigh-sac, or email angie.boehmer@vanderbilt.edu or Jessica.m.hinshaw@vanderbilt.edu.
Link to the VIGH SAC website: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/vigh-sac/case/index.php