To our partners, colleagues, and alumni around the world,
On behalf of the Office of International Medicine Programs (IMP) at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), I would like to wish you all a very happy new year. I hope this holiday season brought much peace, rest and joy to you and your families.
As we begin this new year, I am mindful of the challenges that remain as countries continue to confront the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In the midst of these challenges, I have been inspired by the continued resilience displayed by our GW community and international partners, as well as optimistic for the new opportunities that lie ahead in 2022.
Throughout 2021, our IMP team was dedicated to supporting the success of our medical students, residents, and fellows as they navigated these uncertain times. We continued to provide flexibility for students to engage in our programs at GW no matter their location, which included offering our Summer Research and Medical Enrichment Program in a virtual format for a second year in a row. We were thrilled to host a cohort of talented medical students from nine different countries who participated in virtual activities that enriched their knowledge of the U.S. medical system and strengthened their research skills under the guidance of our GW faculty directors.
Medical students also had the chance to take advantage of virtual opportunities through online electives offered at GW, including the Exploring Implicit Bias in Medicine and Clinical Public Health: COVID-19 in the U.S. courses taught by GW SMHS faculty. Our own GW medical students, including one of our students in the MD Program for International Students, also engaged in virtual research opportunities through programs such as the Global Health Scholarly Concentration which focuses on increasing students’ awareness of international health systems.
In addition, IMP welcomed an accomplished group of international medical graduates to GW’s campus for our Medical Research Fellowship Program. Designed to enhance their research and clinical experience and prepare them to apply for U.S. graduate medical education, the research fellowship program has continued to offer valuable opportunities for international medical graduates interested in gaining U.S. medical experience. This includes an alum of the program who shared more about recent experiences at GW in an article featured in this newsletter.
I invite you to read more about these programs in our winter newsletter and look forward to keeping you updated on exciting initiatives that IMP will be working on in 2022. In addition, we are always interested in staying connected with our alumni, partners, and colleagues and encourage you to reach out to us at impinfo@gwu.edu to share news and updates on your work.
We appreciate the support of our partners around the world and members of our GW community as we strive to carry out our mission to “Fly the GW flag around the world and bring the world to GW.”
Sincerely,
Huda M. Ayas, EdD ’06, MBA ’98, MHSA ’93 Associate Dean for International Medicine Executive Director, Office of International Medicine Programs