PHR Student Blog

The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons PHR  chapter is teaming up with the International Health Organization student group for the third year to host the Forum on Global Health and Human Rights. The Forum was born out of the students’ desire for a greater emphasis on issues of social justice and global health in our curriculum. By taking advantage of faculty members actively involved in these topics, we’ve provided an opportunity to engage students from different disciplines in crucial global health and human rights issues. The Forum encompasses a series of topics, with each module comprising of a lecture from an expert in that field and a discussion and activity to supplement dialogue and understanding. Running from mid-October through April, the Forum is a student-run, student-led initiative meant to encourage greater discourse between students on global health and human rights topics.

Our 13 events this past year have brought in a total attendance of 337 people. Event topics have included: Is Health a Human Right?; the Ethics of Global Health Education; the Dynamics of Donor Funding; Maternal Mortality; and Water as a Human Right vs. a Commodity. We have had broad representation at these events from ten different Columbia graduate programs, from the social work to the business schools, and every program at the health sciences campus. We’ve also had medical residents participate in our events, which have facilitated interaction between residents and medical students outside of the hospital wards. All of this has contributed to a real forum setting, in which different perspectives benefit from one another and collaboration is encouraged.

Despite the fact that several of our topics did not directly discuss medicine, our course evaluations stated that 97% of the time, participants find that the event somewhat or definitely relates to their personal or career interests. This illustrated to us that health care students are interested in a number of topics beyond the health sciences, giving rise to a multidisciplinary approach to health care in their future careers.

Drawing from the Forum’s first two years, we have several pieces of advice to other chapters interested in developing similar projects of their own:

1. The first year of the Forum was modeled as a journal club, in which relevant journal articles were assigned in the beginning of the year and subsequently discussed at monthly meetings. This encouraged a more consistent, dedicated group of participants in an academic course-like setting. The second year of the Forum was a mix of various lectures and events, in which student leaders were assigned in the beginning of the year to organize each module. This allowed for greater creativity and freedom, with events such as film screenings, a “choose your own adventure” activity, and a UN Summit simulation. We have found that both approaches each come with their own benefits.
2. We found that the faculty were a great resource and were very supportive, donating both time and money to our Forum. Faculty members were most responsive when we presented them with a summary of what our group did and expressed our desire to further our medical education with topics of shared interest.
3. We also found that the best discussions came about when we had participants from all different backgrounds, including students not involved in health care. Several strategies ensured a diverse group of participants, such as emailing the Deans of all the Columbia programs to forward our events on to their students. We also contacted other student group leaders, especially when a topic was very relevant; for example, having the OB/GYN interest group co-sponsor our maternal mortality module. Furthermore, we made sure to reach out even to other medical schools in the city for our larger events.
4. Another method of approach was to share responsibilities by delegating work among a group of students. Each module had student leaders who were given the task of finding a speaker, developing a module topic, and planning an event to engage the participants in discussion. Having students both generate ideas for module topics and choose which modules to lead gave them a greater sense of ownership and motivation in their modules. We provided guidance to student leaders by having progress meetings, preparing checklists of tasks, and facilitating their interaction with relevant faculty and students.
5. We would suggest starting small — our first year’s Forum was a semester long, with a total of eight events and four modules. With greater student organization and momentum, our second year grew to include seven modules and 13 events. The Forum’s continued success has grown out of the strong interests and desires of our students themselves on the topics of global health and human rights.

We hope other chapters will be able to develop their own projects to bring topics of social justice to their medical school education. You might find our Course Syllabus and Course Survey useful in planning your projects. If you have any questions about Columbia’s Forum, please email Danielle at dfox [at] phrusa [dot] org to get our contact information.

Floria Chi, 2009-2010 PHR Forum Coordinator
Alexandra Svoronos, 2008-2009 PHR Forum Coordinator