Global Health

The Global Health Track for Pediatric Residents at the University of Wisconsin is designed to foster personal and individualized growth. Through the track, we aim to develop physician leaders who will have the skills, knowledge, and desire to improve the health of children worldwide.

Components of the Global Health Track

Residents enrolled in the track are assigned global health mentors who will help guide them throughout the course of their residency training, connecting them with the resources available via the broader university to help them meet their personal goals. While core elements exist within the track, residents are encouraged to tailor the curriculum to meet their individual needs.

An educational cornerstone of the track is a 2-week Fundamentals in Global Child Health course. During this protected time, residents in the track will spend time focusing on many of the issues that are central to global child health. Other key elements of the track include monthly small-group evening sessions ranging in content from journal clubs to cultural activities, residency program-wide afternoon educational sessions with global health content, customized global health electives when appropriate, involvement in cross-campus global health events and seminars, global health advocacy/community involvement, and local or international global health electives. The Global Health Track curriculum emphasizes cultural humility, responsible and ethical practices, and collaboration with colleagues.

The Greater University Picture

Our residency offers you a unique opportunity to be connected to a large, internationally-active, undergraduate and graduate campus. The School of Medicine & Public Health has been the home for the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Global Health (CGH). The Center for Global Health began as a collaborative effort of the University of Wisconsin’s Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Veterinary Medicine, and the Division of International Studies. The Center for Global Health recently joined forces with a campus-wide Global Health Initiative to form the University of Wisconsin Global Health Institute. The UW Global Health Institute spans the entire University of Wisconsin campus and serves to bring faculty and students across all disciplines together to address health care, food security and sustainable agriculture, water and sanitation, environmental sustainability, and “one health” perspectives that integrate the health of humans, animals and the environment. The UW Global Health Institute aims to address the intertwined root (or upstream) causes of ill health across sectors to discover more sustainable strategies for human well-being. These networks a resident with the opportunity to work with and learn from professionals across the University campus from a wide array of disciplines.

Applying for the Global Health Track

Following Match Day, all incoming residents will have the opportunity to apply for the Global Health Track. In an effort to maximize potential exposure, residents will be selected and begin participating in the track during their intern year.

The track serves to enrich the training experience of residents interested in global health and has the ability to meet the needs of a variety of residents: from those who desire to gain a new perspective on the health of children worldwide to those who plan to have a career centered in global health work. Highly motivated, self-driven, and intellectually curious residents with a passion for global health will be exceptionally successful in this program.

Global Health Track Leaders
Sabrina M. Wagner, MD Dr. Wagner is the Director of the Pediatric Global Health Track. She is a pediatric hospitalist whose work within global health focuses on curriculum development and education in the US and abroad, strengthening of health systems via training of health care professionals, the use of simulation in resource-limited settings, culture shock and communication, and partnership development. Dr. Wagner coordinates the UW Department of Pediatrics partnership with Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia (a partnership aimed at strengthening pediatric emergency and trauma care in Ethiopia). Additionally, she oversees the UW Graduate Medical Education global health elective process.
Laura M. Houser, MD Dr. Houser is the Associate Director of the Pediatric Global Health Track. She is a general pediatrician at the UW Health East Clinic. Her focus within global health is on implementation of neonatal resuscitation and improving newborn care. Her primary region of focus is Haiti.
Katherine Baker, MD Dr. Baker is our current Global Health Chief Resident. She plans to pursue a career in general pediatrics with a focus on under-served populations. She is a member of the AAP Section on International Child Health and is a contributing editor for the abstract issues of SOICH's newsletter. During her residency she participated in a global health experience in Mwanza,Tanzania and at the International Adoption Clinic in Minneapolis, MN.

Core Global Health Faculty
Gail S. Allen, MD Dr. Allen is a general pediatrician in the Division of General & Adolescent Pediatrics. She has experience doing multi-disciplinary work in Uganda in conjunction with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She has served as a mentor for the UW Village Health Project.
Margaret T. Bartholomew, MD Dr. Bartholomew is a pediatrician in the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine who has experience and an interest in the care of American Indian/Alaska Native children. Prior to coming to Madison, she worked for many years in the Indian Health Service in North Eastern Arizona caring for Navajo children and their families.
Ann Behrmann, MD Dr. Behrmann is a general pediatrician at Group Health Cooperative. She has decades of experience in the field of global health and serves on the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on International Child Health. She has been actively involved in the UW’s Center for Global Health and served in an advisory role for the Center for Global Health’s Steering Committee.
James H. Conway, MD Dr. Conway is a pediatric infectious disease specialist. His primary work within global health centers on vaccine-preventable diseases and community-based public health programs aimed at improving vaccine delivery. His region of concentration in his vaccine work has been East Africa. Dr. Conway is the Associate Director for Health Sciences for the University of Wisconsin Global Health Institute.
Gregory P. DeMuri, MD Dr. Demuri is a pediatric infectious disease specialist and general pediatrician. He practices general pediatrics at Access Community Health Clinic, a clinic that serves an under-served population in Madison. He has combined his expertise in infectious disease and general pediatrics globally in both Kazakstan and Cuba.
Scott A. Hagen, MD Dr. Hagen is a pediatric intensivist. He has worked with cardiac critical care teams and in pediatric intensive care settings providing education and patient care in Uganda, Ethiopia, Nicaragua and Peru.

Graduates

Ben Hanisch (2011) – Pediatric Infectious Disease fellow at the University of Minnesota. He is exploring options for his fellowship research including global health related research.

Katie Baker (2011) – Current Global Health Chief Resident. She plans to pursue a career in general pediatrics with a focus on under-served populations. She is a member of the AAP Section on International Child Health and is a contributing editor for the abstract issues of SOICH's newsletter. During her residency she participated in a global health experience in Mwanza,Tanzania and at the International Adoption Clinic in Minneapolis, MN.

Laura Houser (2010) – General pediatrician at the UW Health East Clinic and Associate Director of the Global Health Track. Her focus within global health is on implementation of neonatal resuscitation and improving newborn care. Her primary region of focus is Haiti.

Dan Olson (2010) – Current Fogarty Fellow in Malawi researching Ebstein Barr Virus.

Lisa Umphrey (2010) – Field Operations Manager, supervising pediatrician, and Medical Rotational Program Director in Uganda for the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children.

Jeff Yaeger (2010) – Research fellow through the National Research Service Award Program. Through this program, he is obtaining a Master of Public Health and continues to practice clinically, both in outpatient clinics and as a hospitalist. His research work focuses on several different aspects of global health, including education of residents, the management and prognosis of clubfoot deformities, as well as identification and improvement of health disparities. He has worked clinically in Tanzania and Uganda. He plans to continue these professional endeavors in under-served communities.

Current Global Health Track Residents

Halie M. Anderson, MD	Katie T. Carlberg, MD	Desire M. Hurst, MD	Evan F. Kemp, MD, MPH
Cathy A. Lee-Miller	Leslie M. Riopel, MD	Robert B. Strait, MD	Matthew A. Szadkowski, MD
Erin L. Turner, MD