
The Department of Pediatrics Division of Global Pediatrics hosted the 2024 conference for members of the Midwest Consortium of Global Child Health Educators over September 19 and 20 on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus. About three dozen people representing institutions and organizations from the Midwest and beyond attended the hybrid event.
The Midwest Consortium of Global Child Health Educators was founded in 2010 by Sabrina Butteris, MD, professor, Division of Hospital Medicine and Complex Care and chief of the Division of Global Pediatrics, Nicole (Nikki) St Clair, MD, MS, associate professor, Divisions of Hospital Medicine and Complex Care and Global Pediatrics, and Cynthia (Cindy) Howard, MD, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School. At the time, there were few established global health training programs in the country. Butteris was working to establish the global health track at the UW, St Clair was then working to start a global health track at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Howard was running a global health program at the University of Minnesota. The three educators hoped to bring together those in the region interested in similar work and began with colleagues at seven Midwestern institutions (Case Western Reserve University/UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, Mayo Clinic, Medical College of Wisconsin, Northwestern University/Lurie Children’s, University of Minnesota, and University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health). The group first came together in Madison in 2010 with the goal of learning from each other. The group quickly realized the power of regional collaboration and moved beyond shared learning to developing and disseminating collaborative curricula.
Over the years that followed, the consortium became a nationally recognized group of leaders in pediatric global health education. The group has collaboratively authored more than 40 publications and developed a number of novel global health curricula under the “SUGAR” brand created by the group in 2014. The SUGAR series of curricula use a train-the-trainer model to improve global health education and preparation. Elements of the curriculum have been implemented at over 200 institutions internationally. The sugarprep.org website was developed in partnership with the UW Department of Pediatrics IT team, whose members have been instrumental in developing and maintaining the website.
Consortium member institutions share in hosting the annual meeting on a rotating basis. This year’s conference theme was “Consortium Sustainability — The Long Game.” It addressed long-term sustainability and governance of the organization. Results of the event included a new governance structure that will promote that sustainability. Notably, it will work to ensure that the organization’s curricular products will be updated, relevant, and accessible to global health educators in perpetuity.
The long-term goals of the organization are to continue working to improve the infrastructure for global child health education regionally, nationally, and internationally. The consortium is recognized as an active and effective promoter of improved global pediatric health, and it is one of the most frequently cited educator groups in U.S. pediatric global health educator networks.
“Being a member of the Midwest Consortium of Global Child Health Educators group has been one of the most enjoyable parts of my academic career,” Butteris said. “This group of exceptionally committed individuals has helped me to appreciate the value of finding one’s academic family and the power of regional collaboration; it has been hugely important in my academic journey. Having hosted the very first meeting here in Madison, it was a joy to bring the meeting back to Madison for our 15th anniversary.”