

Global Health Without Borders: Acting for Impact
Elina Mukhametshina, MD
Associate Director of the Global Health Electives Program
Attending the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) conference has been a long-time dream of mine, and this year’s meeting certainly exceeded my expectations.
This year’s CUGH conference served as a platform for a diverse array of voices from the interprofessional community, encompassing nurses, policymakers, physicians, politicians, journalists, educators, medical students, and even IT professionals. CUGH provided a unique opportunity to unite various perspectives on global health in one place. It served as an excellent platform for discussing the interconnected nature of global health issues and underscored the importance of collaboration in resolving them.
The sessions covered a wide range of topics, from climate justice and the impact of climate change on social determinants of health to the role of digital technologies, decolonization of global health, capacity building, educational innovations, AI, and addressing challenges such as armed conflicts, pandemics, and non-communicable diseases. One key takeaway point that resonated throughout most of the sessions was the emphasis on kindness and empathy and the importance of compassion and collaboration in our collective efforts to enhance global health outcomes.
As representatives of the Global Health Program at Nuvance Health, together with Dr Bulat Ziganshin, we were proud to present our poster entitled “Enhancing Global Health Elective Preparedness: Review of the Student Orientation Process.” Our poster showcased the comprehensive two-step orientation process we have developed for medical students embarking on their global health elective journeys. Starting with an online module and culminating in live case-based sessions with the Program Coordinator and Director, our orientation aims to ensure students are well-prepared for their experiences abroad. The poster was very well accepted and brought a lot of interest in our program from our colleagues from the universities in the US and around the world. During the poster presentation, which spanned two days and featured nearly 500 posters, we had the opportunity to connect with colleagues and gain valuable insights from their experiences leading global health programs. The exchange of ideas and knowledge-sharing was incredibly inspiring and enriching.



The CUGH Conference once again demonstrated its value as a venue for meeting, gathering, and reconnecting with our international partners. Over the course of several days, we had the opportunity to reunite with our colleagues from Uganda, including Prof. Nelson Sewankambo, Dr. Noeline Nakasujja, Dr. Mark Kaddu Mukasa, Susan Buekwaso, and others. We engaged in discussions about our collaborative projects, exchanged greetings, and participated in conference activities together. Overall, the CUGH conference was an invaluable learning experience, offering a wealth of educational content and fostering meaningful connections within the global health community.