Last month, the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) hosted a global health education and training symposium for faculty representatives from faculties of medicine of Portuguese-speaking African (PALOP) countries. Faculty from universities located in three of the six PALOP countries attended as well as an affiliated faculty member from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
During this week-long visit, visiting faculty met with Vanderbilt faculty members from across campus to brainstorm and develop action plans for future collaborations. This symposium covered a range of topics including grant management and research ethics, multi-institutional training and education initiatives, engagement and student exchange opportunities. In addition, visitors explored the Vanderbilt Center for Experiential Learning and Assessment (CELA), the simulation lab for clinician training at Vanderbilt, and completed training exercises in the lab.
For more than 10 years, VIGH faculty and staff have developed a niche for itself by fostering a variety of capacity building, research, and educational activities focused on the Portuguese speaking countries of Mozambique and Brazil. Coupled with Vanderbilt´s strong Portuguese language program as well as numerous Portuguese language initiatives from the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), Vanderbilt is uniquely positioned to maximize and foster future collaborations and partnerships throughout the PALOP world.
VIGH is committed to partnering with institutions where research agendas align, and education and development activities coexist. The PALOP global health education and training symposium is a reflection of these efforts to further partnerships and collaborations with institutions around the world.
In particular, VIGH faculty and their respective counterparts are planning to partner on grant submissions and training programs, foster capacity building programing specific to the needs of each university and work on proposals for new Portuguese courses related to global health within the Portuguese Language Program at Vanderbilt University, in addition to laying the groundwork for cross-institutional student pairings and exchanges.
VIGH Facilitators:
Troy Moon, M.D., M.P.H. Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Ann Green, M.P.H., Senior Program Manager
Symposium Visiting Faculty:
Mohsin Sidat M.D., PhD, MSc– Universidade Eduardo Mondlane; Maputo, Mozambique
Celso Belo M.D. – Universidade Lúrio (Unilúrio); Nampula, Mozambique
Isabel Inês Araujo Ph.D. – Universidade de Cabo Verde; Praia, Cape Verde
Rosa Moreira Ph.D. – Universidade Agostinho Neto; Luanda, Angola
Elizabeth Heitman, Ph.D. - University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
