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On January 23, 2015, alumni from the MSc in Global Health will host a photo exhibition and student speaker series – the first event in a Global Health Learning Series, run by students, for students. The exhibition’s aim is to fundraise for Médecins Sans Frontières’ efforts to fight Ebola, while highlighting some alumni experiences of GH issues, both in Canada and abroad.

 

The event offers an opportunity for students from the GH program to showcase their practicum and thesis experiences from previous summers. Organizer Jessica Yu explains, “Incorporating the voices of both students who worked abroad and in Canada, the exhibition will use photos to help illustrate our experiences, surprising realizations, challenges faced, and, most importantly, lessons learned.” Alumni will speak about their unique experiences, including disaster management and the urban poor in Ahmedabad, India; slum health in Freetown, Sierra Leone; and harm reduction and aboriginal health in the Yukon.

 

People – Global Health Learning Series

With the 2014-2015 GH class in the early stages of organizing placements for the upcoming summer, the exhibition makes for a timely occasion to raise awareness about some of the ethical, cultural and social challenges of working in the global health field.

 

Yu says, “This exhibition shines a light on a specific set of challenges that we must face as we begin our careers. By sharing these experiences we aim to help inform, network, and guide students, not only during this program, but also when we enter the field of global health in the future.” Moreover, she adds, “In the context of the current Ebola crisis, the event also provides an opportunity to fundraise for Médecins Sans Frontières and their continuing work in affected areas in West Africa.”

 

Yu hopes the learning series will contribute to the expansion of McMaster’s intellectual community and demonstrate “the power of learning beyond the traditional boundaries of academia.”