The ACCESS Program was developed to prepare medical students to become global citizens and leaders in healthcare delivery and system strengthening in low resource settings through a comprehensive competency-based global health curricula that include academic training and clinical specialty based work such as research, community engagement, and international collaborative partnerships.
Our curriculum was developed based on the work by Jogerst et al. published in the Annals of Global Health in 2015: Identifying Interprofessional Global Health Competencies for 21st Century Health Professionals. During the M1 and M2 years, students will learn the knowledge base of complex global health key issues and challenges as they relate to acute care and emergency medical and surgical services. During M3 year, students will be eligible to choose from the following thematic concentrations: Global Surgery, Global Anesthesia, Global Obstetrics, Global Emergency Medicine, or Global Critical Care. During M4 year, students will work on their capstone projects with mentors from their specialty of interest.
Click on each year below to learn more about year-specific curriculum:
Interactive Sessions
- Session M1-1: Global Burden of Disease (Domain 1)
- Session M1-2: Globalization of Health and Health Care (Domain 2)
- Session M1-3: Access to Health Care, Challenges in Local and Global Pre-hospital Healthcare Systems (Domains 2, 7)
- Session M1-4: Global Research Ethics (Domain 6)
- Session M1-5: Understanding Social and Environmental Determinants of Health (Domain 3)
- Session M1-6: Professional Practice and Preparing for a Global Health Experience (Domain 7)
- Session M1-7: Strategic Analysis for Healthcare in Low Resource Settings: The Basics of a Needs Assessment (Domain 11)
- Session M1-8: Getting involved in Global Health at the Resident Level
Additional Required Activities
Journal Club: Journal Clubs will be student-led and held monthly. M1 students are required to attend the introduction to journal club (Session 4) in the fall semester and at least two (2) of the monthly journal clubs held during the spring semester. Students in their M1 year are expected to pre-read the selected journal article(s) and participate in the discussion. Many of these sessions will be coordinated to involve other global health programs or international connections through teleconference.
Professional Practice: Students will become certified as either a Stop the Bleed (Bleeding Control Basic) course associate instructor or Hands-Only CPR instructor. Becoming an instructor for either course requires approximately one hour and can be taught by an approved faculty or student instructor.
Community Service or Engagement: As Stop the Bleed or Hands-Only CPR instructors, students will be required to assist in teaching at least one community class and other medical students. Alternative student-proposed activities may be considered.
Pre-hospital Experience: Ride-along for a shift with Richmond Ambulance Authority (to complement Sessions M1-3 and M2-2).
Global Health Seminar Series: Learn from the work of global surgeons and invited guests as they present their work to medical students, residents, and faculty here at VCU. This program is hosted once a month by the VCU Department of Surgery. M1 students are expected to attend 6 of the 8 seminars scheduled during Fall/Spring semesters. Alternative seminars will be considered (e.g. Emergency Medicine Grand Rounds on Global Health; ITSDP/PTS).
Capstone Research Day: Attend presentations by M4 students at ACCESS Capstone Research Day.
Optional Activities
Learning international clinical surgical and trauma cases: The Panamerican Trauma Society Tele-Conferences are offered to interested attendees around the world through the partnership with the University of Miami. Trauma and emergency cases are presented by clinicians from a variety of countries including Brazil, Thailand, Iraq among others. Fridays alternating at 8am and 12pm.
Global Research: Students may have the opportunity to participate in a global surgery, emergency medicine, obstetrics, anesthesia or public health research project mentored by program faculty. This research may be conducted over winter break, during the academic semester, or over the summer, with the goal of publication or presentation at GSSA, ITSDP/PTS, ACS, or other conferences or symposiums.
Interactive Sessions
- Session M2-1: Understanding Health Policy in Low Resource Settings and Introduction to NSOAPs (Domain 9)
- Session M2-2: Building Sustainable Emergency and Acute Care Programs in Low-Resource Settings (Domain 4)
- Session M2-3: Sociocultural and Political Awareness (Domain 10)
Capstone Proposal
Students will compose a proposal for their capstone research or community project. Students will meet with a faculty mentor to review the project, receive guidance, and determine if a need for IRB approval exists before formal submission.
Proposal Due Date: TBD, approximately April of M2 year (after USMLE Step 1 / before formal M3 clerkships begin).
CITI Program Research Ethics and Compliance: Students will be required to complete selected modules of this online research and ethics training by the end of their M2 year/start of their M3 with their proposal and before beginning research. Students that have already completed this training need to ensure their training is not expired.
Additional Required Activities
Preceptorship: Through cooperation with the PCM office, students in the program will be assigned a unique preceptor from VCU Health who has global health experience for approximately 24 hours during the M2 Fall semester (PCM requirements are set and coordinated through the PCM Office). (Domain 7)
Journal Club: M2 students are required to attend at least two journal clubs sessions held by the Panamerican Trauma Society student interest group. Students are expected to pre-read the selected journal article(s) and participate in the discussion.
Global Health Seminar Series: Learn from the international work carried out by VCU physicians and invited guests as they present their global work to medical students, residents, and faculty. M2 students are expected to attend 3 of the 8 seminars scheduled during fall/spring semesters.
International Trauma System Development Program and Pan-American Trauma Society (ITSDP/PTS) International Peer Mentorship: Videoconference with your assigned international medical student peer at least twice during the semester.
Clinical Skills Workshop: Attend one clinical skills workshop hosted by the program or a relevant student interest organization, such as a suture clinic, intubation workshop, or FAST exam workshop.
Capstone Research Day: Attend presentations by M4 students at ACCESS Capstone Research Day
Optional Activities
Trauma Evaluation Assessment and Management (TEAM) Workshop: Interested students will have the opportunity to participate in an abbreviated TEAM workshop, led by Dr. Rodas and the International Trauma Systems Development Program / Pan-American Trauma Society (ITSDP/PTS) Student Interest Groups. The one-hour session in the Center for Trauma and Critical Care Education (CTCCE) will provide students with an introduction to the fundamental principles of management for acutely injured patients.
Learning Sessions
Each specialty track has developed five learning sessions. Students must attend all 5 learning sessions in the specialty of their choosing in addition to 1 general session:
M3-General Session: Designing a Meaningful Global Health Capstone Project
Surgery
- M3-1: Strategic Analysis for Health Surgical Services in Low Resource Settings: The Basics of a Health Needs Assessment and Situational Analysis
- M3-2: Ethical Challenges for Delivery of Surgical Care in Low-Resources Settings Abroad
- M3-3: Basic Surgical Skills Valuable in Resource-Constrained Settings
- M3-4: Common Emotional Challenges When Facing Prevalent Surgical Conditions in Low- Resource Settings
- M3-5: Educational Opportunities and Challenges in Global Surgery
Anesthesia
- M3-1: Safe and Ethical Anesthesia & the Global Burden of Surgical Disease: Monitoring, Equipment, and Infrastructure
- M3-2: Strategic Needs Assessments Part 1: Anesthesia Essential Medicines and International Drug Policy
- M3-3: Strategic Needs Assessments Part 2: The Global Blood Supply
- M3-4: Understanding the Global Anesthesia Workforce: Differences in Provider Training and Education
- M3-5: Challenges for Pediatric and Obstetric Anesthesia in Low Resource Settings
- M3-6: Regional Anesthesia in the Developing World
Obstetrics and Gynecology
- M3-1: Ethics of Global Health, OBGYN-Specific: Dilemmas, Avoiding White Savior Complex, Practicing Outside of Your Scope
- M3-2: Maternal Morbidity and Mortality: Factors, Effects, and Prevention Efforts/Opportunity
- M3-3: Surgery & Emergencies in Resource-Limited Settings: How to Adapt, Train, and Support Local Hospitals
- M3-4: Cultural Norms: Prenatal care, Contraceptives, Reproductive Health
- M3-5: Homes vs. Hospital Delivery: Rates, Pros/Cons, Areas for Improvement and Opportunity
Emergency Medicine
- M3-1: Current Ethical Issues in Clinical Emergency Care and Research in LMICs
- M3-2: Emergency Care in Low Resource Settings: American Indian Health Services
- M3-3: Disaster Response and Humanitarian Care
- M3-4: Practicing in Austere and High Altitude Environments
- M3-5: Emergency Care in India: The Building Blocks
Critical Care
- M3-1: Introduction: Global Burden of Disease – Role of Critical Care Medicine
- M3-2: Critical Care Morbidity and Mortality: Factors and Prevention/Opportunity/Early Recognition
- M3-3: Capacity Building of Critical Care Services in Resource-Limited Settings
- M3-4: Research in Global Critical Care
- M3-5: How Cultural Norms Impact Critical Care
Required Activities
Capstone Research-Based Project: Students in this program will be required to conduct a longitudinal research or community project that impacts a global health system, is related to global surgery, emergency medicine, anesthesia, or obstetrics and includes a global health perspective. Students will work one on one with a faculty mentor.
It will be a requirement to present this capstone project as a 10 minute presentation at a program-specific research day, which will be limited to M4 students in this program presenting their capstone projects. Students are expected to submit their project for presentation or publication in a national platform.
- Abstract Due Date: ~February of M4 year
- Global Medicine and Surgery Student Research Day: April (date TBD yearly)
Small Group Leaders & Interest Meeting: All available M4 students in the program will be expected to attend the program interest meeting for M1 students during the fall and act as a small group leader to discuss their experiences and answer questions about the field of global health from incoming students.
Journal Club Moderators: All M4 students are required to sign up as a discussion leader for at least one of the monthly journal club meetings. Responsibilities of the discussion leaders includes selection of an appropriate journal article for discussion (with consultation and approval of program faculty).
Optional Activities
Optional /funding dependent: Participate in an international elective experience (e.g. rotation through Cinterandes Mobile Surgery, Mobile Health in New Zealand, or a similar elective). This must be coordinated between the student and appropriate faculty or department.