3 Lessons For Future Global Health Leaders

As student interest in global health skyrockets, what's the best advice experts have to offer future leaders in the field?

This past weekend, I had an opportunity to find out at GlobeMed's fourth annual Global Health Summit, an event headlined by Partners in Health founder Dr. Paul Farmer. Listening to the conversations that took place among the 25 speakers and nearly 200 undergraduate students from GlobeMed's 19 university chapters, here are three messages that stuck with me:

1). Master the language of love and the language of power: During the opening keynote, Raj Panjabi (co-Founder of Tiyatien Health, a Liberian-based NGO), told students that global health work required them to master two languages: the language of love, and the language of power. Figuring out how to work in solidarity with those living in poverty while confronting the power relationships that fuel health inequities remains a dual challenge for those working in global health. It's also a challenge that provides a template through which students can map a future career path.

2). Pursue creative partnerships: Paul Farmer (you can watch his full speech and Q/A here) pushed students to think of organizations like Partners in Health and GlobeMed as one organization. In her speech, Pam Barnes (formerly with the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation) echoed this point, challenging students to help break down "the ownership culture" in global health -- one in which organizations corrosively compete to claim credit for success. To advance global health, says Barnes, imagining "creative partnerships" among NGOs, business, foundations and governments is the only way forward. (For student leaders who've already seen how the proliferation of different organizations in a similar space can weaken each others' efforts -- even on university campuses -- the message easily resonates.)

3). Define and follow your own North Star: All speakers shared one view: No precise formulas for career paths in global health exist. Indeed, Paul Farmer reminded us that global health is "not a discipline," but rather "a collection of problems requiring a collection of solutions." Accordingly, his message: Pursue what you truly love, commit your life to it and confront failure along the way. (For example, Dr. Farmer revealed that he'd been declined a Fulbright to Senegal in college.) Likewise, Dr. Panjabi challenged students to be self-reflective, and continue to strive to become better "experts in social justice" along the way. In Pam Barnes' lexicon, each person's "North Star" -- their personal mission, which can evolve over time -- can guide this journey.

All of the above is great advice -- and especially timely, given that over the past three years, the number of students enrolled in U.S. and Canadian global health programs has more than doubled. Each thread -- the aspirational, pragmatic and personal -- can help guide students in how to make their own contribution to the movement for global health equity. Definitely a weekend to remember.

Photo Credit: GlobeMed