Sara Pirtle, coordinator of the University of Nebraraka Medical Center’s International Studies and Programs, has co-authored a book considered to be the first comprehensive resource for health care providers interested in improving the lives of people around the world.
The book, "Caring for the World: A Guidebook to Global Health Opportunities," is being printed by the University of Toronto Press and will be released for distribution next year. It should become an important resource for health professionals who want to enter the global health field, Pirtle said.
“There are pitfalls when trying to provide health care in a foreign country,” she said. “First, you have to learn the culture. Then, you work with the local health care providers to get their permission to treat people. It’s important to remember that in poor countries, people can’t purchase expensive medications. So, whatever drugs you bring in should be accessible to the people.”
Language is another key and Pirtle advises everyone to learn Spanish. “Every health profession student will encounter a Spanish speaking patient and if they can’t speak the language and understand the patient, they won’t be able to provide excellent care.”
Pirtle speaks fluent Spanish and has traveled to a dozen Latin American countries. As coordinator of UNMC’s program for the past 10 years, she has processed paperwork for foreign students who come here and for all UNMC students who want to study abroad.
She also is adviser for the Student Alliance for Global Health, which organizes annual medical service trips to Nicaragua, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and a Native American Reservation. Pirtle personally guides the group of students going to Nicaragua every year. In preparation for the trip, she makes students learn about the country and its culture for months before going.
“We’re not tourists; we’re going there to help. We return to the same communities where we have a good reputation,” she said. The teams take medical supplies with them, including donated pharmaceutical drugs.
In 2005, Pirtle helped launch the first Midwest Global Health Conference in Omaha, and has been instrumental in organizing subsequent conferences ever since.
On the international scene, she served two terms on the governing council for the Global Health Education Consortium (GHEC), based in San Francisco, and she co-chaired the GHEC’s 2004 international conference in Guatemala. GHEC is a consortium of faculty and health care educators dedicated to global health education in health professions schools and residency programs. It is committed to improving the health and human rights of underserved populations.
While she contributed to the entire book, Pirtle wrote a chapter, “Funding for Global Health Opportunities.” The chapter describes the process of applying to established funding programs, approaching potential donors and raising money for international projects. It also provides a list of funding sources for scholarships, fellowships and grants.
She also asked Keith Brown, D.O., a Norfolk, Neb., family physician and assistant professor and UNMC volunteer faculty member, to contribute an essay to the chapter entitled, “Advice from Five Global Health Experts.” Dr. Brown is medical director for the Belize Institute for Tropical and Wilderness Medicine and spends 50 percent of his time abroad.
Co-authors of the book include: Paul Drain, M.D., an internal medicine resident at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.; Stephen Huffman, M.D., an emergency physician in Dayton, Ohio; and Kevin Chan, M.D., a pediatrician in Toronto.
The book sells for $60 in hardcover and $24.95 in paperback. It can be preordered from UT Press, as well as from Amazon, Borders and Barnes and Noble.
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