President Brodhead says demand for global health training has doubled

New and Noteworthy   

"We look forward to evolving this program further in a way we hope to bring opportunity for our students to not only learn how to engineer health technologies, but to think deeply about how are they funded and the capacity-building that results from our efforts when we work in partnership with those in developing countries," says Dr. So.

The North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund (HWTF) released its application for the 2010-2011 NC Health Disparities fellowship, a program engaging talented public health and social work professionals in ongoing efforts to help close the health disparities gap in the state.   

The project is funded and directed by the HWTF as part of its statewide Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative. HWTF has allocated $23.6 million towards the overall initiative, which includes 23 community grants and a multi-media campaign.  HWTF is partnering with the Duke Global Health Institute to manage the fellowship.

The two-year fellowship program aims to increase awareness of health inequalities in North Carolina by enabling a group of mid- to senior-level public health or social work professionals to effectively design, implement and evaluate interventions that address these complex issues. The new class of fellows will complement HWTF's first class of fellows, all of whom have begun working on health projects in their communities.

"We are proud of our first group of fellows for taking on the challenge of addressing health disparities through effective community-based and statewide projects, and we are pleased to be able to offer the fellowships once again," said Vandana Shah, HWTF Executive Director. "Engaging talented professionals in the effort to increase the cultural competency of health care providers is vital for closing the health disparities gap."

The program includes four modules of classroom instruction led by faculty at Duke University, North Carolina Central University, and East Carolina University during the first year. Duke faculty mentors also assist fellows with the development of a community-based project to be implemented in the second year of the program.

Data from the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities at the NC Department of Health and Human Services shows that Hispanics, African Americans and American-Indians are three times more likely to be living below the federal poverty level than whites, a factor related to many health disparities. The infant mortality rate and deaths related to diabetes are two times higher for these minority groups than their white counterparts. The NC Health Disparities Fellowship educates its fellows about these very topics, and helps them find creative ways to combat these issues in their communities.