Glew Robert H
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, MSC08 4670, School of Medicine, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA.
Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2008 Mar;233(3):277-85. doi: 10.3181/0707-MR-204.
The premise of this piece is that a priority of international health should be to increase the number of investigators in the US and other developed countries who engage in research and other kinds of scholarly work in underdeveloped parts of the world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa where the overall disease burden is the highest and the gap in biomedical research infrastructure is the widest. The author's aim is to encourage medical students, resident doctors, and medical school faculty to devote a part of their career to teach, acquire clinical skills, or participate in research with health professionals at teaching hospitals in Africa. After briefly describing the thinking that led the author to Nigeria 30 years ago to teach and study biochemical aspects of health problems in rural and urban areas, he discusses some of the factors one needs to consider before entering into an international partnership, including identifying the right foreign collaborators, selecting a suitable research site, setting realistic goals, learning the local culture and indigenous language, and defining a theme for your program. Lastly, the piece points out potential pitfalls and problems that are often overlooked or underestimated in the early phases of planning an international partnership, including lukewarm institutional support at home, inflexible institutional review boards, dominance of the program by the US partner, maintaining continuity, and striking the right balance between scholarly work and humanitarian efforts. My hope is that US students and faculty in the health professions who read this piece will be stimulated and encouraged to consider how they might integrate into their curriculum or academic life visits lasting several months or more each year during which they would teach or train others or engage in research at a teaching hospital in some country in Africa.
本文的前提是，国际卫生工作的一个优先事项应该是增加美国和其他发达国家从事世界欠发达地区研究及其他学术工作的研究人员数量，特别是撒哈拉以南非洲地区，那里的总体疾病负担最高，生物医学研究基础设施的差距也最大。作者的目的是鼓励医学生、住院医生和医学院教师在其职业生涯中抽出一部分时间，到非洲的教学医院去教学、学习临床技能或与卫生专业人员一起参与研究。在简要描述了30年前促使作者前往尼日利亚在农村和城市地区教授和研究健康问题的生化方面的想法之后，他讨论了在建立国际合作关系之前需要考虑的一些因素，包括确定合适的外国合作者、选择合适的研究地点、设定现实的目标、了解当地文化和本土语言以及为你的项目确定一个主题。最后，本文指出了在规划国际合作关系的早期阶段经常被忽视或低估的潜在陷阱和问题，包括国内机构支持不热情、机构审查委员会不灵活、项目由美国合作伙伴主导、保持连续性以及在学术工作和人道主义努力之间取得适当平衡。我希望阅读本文的美国卫生专业学生和教师能受到启发和鼓励，思考他们如何将每年持续数月或更长时间的访问纳入他们的课程或学术生活，在此期间他们将在非洲某个国家的教学医院教学、培训他人或参与研究。
