Beyond Our Borders
A variety of programs, courses and projects at the College of Medicine provide opportunities for students and faculty to serve international populations.
The UA College of Medicine Program in Community-Responsive Medicine offers multiple initiatives with an international focus in its Commitment to Underserved People Program (CUP). Student leaders design, organize and manage clinical and health-education programs in urban and rural underserved areas. Providing early clinical experience for health sciences students, under the supervision of attending physicians, CUP also offers learning opportunities in program leadership, health advocacy, social services and health education and promotion.
The UA College of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine provides numerous training opportunities with an international focus:
Conversantes
A semester-long, service-learning course for bilingual Spanish-speaking, undergraduate students from The University of Arizona and Pima Community College. The class focuses on medical vocabulary in English and Spanish and medical interpretation techniques. Students volunteer as Spanish interpreters in local community clinics and assist medical students learning to interview Spanish-speaking patients.
Elective Courses in Developing-World Health
- International Health: Clinical and Community Care
A three-week clinical problem-solving orientation to real developing-world practice, designed for medical and public health students from the U.S. and Canada, residents and other health-care professionals with plans to work in a developing country.
- Preceptorship in International Health
A six-to-12-week clinical rotation for UA medical students on any of the three developing-world continents.
UA College of Medicine Office of Outreach and Multicultural Affairs hosts Intercambio Médico Cultural y Salud Pública Sonora-Arizona, a summer program for medical students from the Universidad de Sonora. Through classes and clinical shadowing rotations, students gain proficiency in English communication skills; expanded knowledge of English medical terminology; expertise in conducting medical research; and familiarity with the U.S. health-care system.
Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center (AEMRC), a Center of Excellence at the UA College of Medicine, in collaboration with the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology, offers Advanced Hazmat Life Support™ (AHLS), the premiere training course that focuses on the medical management of hazmat incidents and exposure to nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. AHLS provides medical personnel worldwide with the specialized knowledge and skills needed to assess hazmat patients rapidly, recognize symptoms of exposure to a particular toxic substance and give specific antidotes immediately.
The Institute for Advanced Telemedicine and Telehealth (T-Health), a division of the Arizona Telemedicine Program (ATP), operates a videoconferencing facility in Panama City and is instrumental in providing telemedicine services throughout the Republic of Panama. ATP anticipates expanding telemedicine services to other countries in Central and South America over the next five years.
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