REACH (Residents Educated in Alternative Cultures and Health)—Baystate's global health initiative—has established the International Health Travel Grants Program in order to provide some financial support to residents and fellows seeking a global health experience and to encourage them to incorporate international health as part of their careers.

According to Aaron Hexdall, Director of international programs for the Emergency Medicine department, the aims of both REACH and the Travel Grants Program are to:

• enhance medical education by providing novel clinical experiences
• facilitate international cooperation projects between Baystate Medical Center and medical centers in other parts of the world
• promote international humanitarianism and healthcare as human right.

Impetus for the Travel Grants Program was two-fold. "More than half of medical students go abroad as part of their medical education, and the majority of residents who interview here inquire about global health opportunities", says Hexdall. In addition, "Baystate has a diverse patient population, including many immigrants, and practicing abroad helps residents learn how to better understand them and their healthcare needs."

International Sites/Projects

Hexdall, who has worked in international health his entire career, collaborated with a physician in Romania to set up the first emergency medicine training program in eastern Europe. Baystate's ED residents go there for a 1 month rotation to learn skills such as aeromedical evacuation in the Carpathian mountains. In Argentina, Baystate's ED runs the Inter-American Emergency Medicine Conference—the largest emergency medicine conference in Latin America—and their residents also rotate in Buenos Aires. Other international sites with ongoing collaborative projects include, Latin America (Mexico, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru), the Caribbean (Jamaica, Dominican Republic) and Africa (Tanzania).

International Health Travel Grants Program Criteria

Applications are reviewed by the REACH committee, a multi-disciplinary group that includes faculty from Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Surgery. Six to eight grants in the range of $500-$1500 will be awarded.

• The program is open to any resident or fellow in good standing.
• International projects or electives of at least 4 weeks duration that will be completed during the residency or fellowship period are eligible.
• Applications must be filled out completely and submitted at least 90 days before the start of the project.

The deadline for the first round of applications is March 19, 2010. Thereafter, applications will be reviewed quarterly.

For more information about REACH, visit their website at http://baystatehealth.org/GlobalHealth

This article was published in the February 2010 Academics@Baystate newsletter.