Global Emergency Medicine Fellowship
We will be recruiting for one position to start July 2025. Please see https://www.saem.org/gemfc for the fellowship application. Interviews will be held virtually on October 8, 2024.
You must also join the NRMP Match (https://www.nrmp.org/fellowship-applicants/) for the Match process. Reach out early with any questions!
The Penn Global Emergency Medicine (PGEM) Fellowship seeks to prepare leaders in the field of Global Emergency Medicine (EM) through a two-year curriculum focused on developing academic, administrative, and clinical skills in the field of Global EM. The primary focus of the fellowship is Global EM education and development; however, fellows will receive training in all sub-fields of Global EM including, but not limited to, disaster/humanitarian response, international law and policy, ethics in GH, research, and refugee health/health of displaced populations. Fellows will be encouraged to participate in ongoing projects in countries partnered with Penn and Penn Faculty; however, fellows will also be encouraged to develop projects at other sites.
Eligibility Requirements: Applicants must be board-eligible/board-certified graduates from an ACGME accredited EM residency.
Follow us on Instagram and X at @PennGlobalEM, visit the Global Emergency Medicine Fellowships website, or email us at pennglobalem@pennmedicine.upenn.edu for more information.
Fellows
Program Leadership
Objectives
To give fellows:
01
The ability to make sustainable improvements in global emergency medical care primarily through emergency care systems development, EM education, and research.
02
A working knowledge of Global and Public Health, including research methods, by obtaining a graduate degree/advanced degree and by completing additional select specialized training programs in GEM.
03
Administrative skills to develop and lead international projects and the ability to apply for funding.
04
Comprehensive training in the field of Global EM, including, but not limited to, areas such as global health policy, ethics, and disaster response/humanitarian assistance.
05
Advancement and refinement of clinical skills within Penn Medicine and at international sites.
Curriculum
GEM Training
Each fellow will participate in specific additional course work in GEM as offered by the Department and the institution as well as through select external opportunities and courses – both in-person and online. Fellows will become Scholars of the Penn CGH and will be connected with relevant centers at Penn as well as mentors both within the institution and externally. Fellows are encouraged to participate in regular scheduled opportunities (i.e. Journal Club) throughout the institution and among local institutions in the Philadelphia area.
Projects
Each fellow will work abroad on GEM projects. Each fellow will be encouraged to participate in current opportunities (i.e. in Pakistan, Vietnam, and Botswana), but also to take advantage of other opportunities, as well as to continue any current project(s).
Graduate Education
Each fellow will obtain a Master of Public Health in the Global Health Track; other advanced degrees (i.e. Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology) may also be possible.
Research
Each fellow will complete at least one research project of sufficient quality for presentation/publication prior to completion of the fellowship.
Clinical Medicine
Each fellow will work as a member of the clinical faculty (Instructor) of Penn Medicine. Each fellow is encouraged to participate in all faculty and academic activities in the Department of Emergency Medicine, as available.
Resident & Faculty Highlights
Penn residents and faculty are engaged in Global Health initiatives all of the world. Faculty provide mentorship, project and elective opportunities, and connections to a variety of organizations within and external to Penn. Other activities include Journal Club (with colleagues at CHOP), resident/faculty involvement with Center for Global Health activities, and collaboration/overlap with activities in other Divisions (i.e. Ultrasound) and other Departments (i.e. Internal Medicine).
Dr. Joseph Leanza (class of 2021; fellow 2021-23) worked with Global Emergency Care in Uganda, Global Response Management at the US/Mexico border and in Iraq, International Needs in Ghana, the Certification Program in Emergency Medicine (CPEM) in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the Vingroup-Penn Alliance in Vietnam. He also provided first aid training in the Galapagos.
Dr. Maham Munawar (fellow 2022-2024) has worked with International Needs in Ghana; the University of Botswana in Botswana, along with Dr. Megan Rybarczyk and Dr. Julia Schiff (class of 2024); the Department of Radiology in Nigeria; Global Response Management in Iraq; and CPEM and training in the WHO-ICRC BEC course in Pakistan.
Dr. Priya Arumuganathan (fellow 2023-2025) has worked with the CPEM program in Pakistan and on a telemedicine project in Pakistan.
Dr. Megan Rybarczyk works with teams in Karachi, Pakistan to provide training in Emergency Medicine (i.e., CPEM and WHO-ICRC BEC course) as well as to collaborate on a variety of research projects. Dr. Charles Kemmler (class of 2020) assisted with the training in 2019 and Dr. Julia Schiff (class of 2024) assisted with the training in 2023. She is a recipient of a Penn Global grant for work in Botswana and the SAEM GEMA grant for cardiovascular research in Pakistan. Dr. Rybarczyk is currently the PGEM Fellowship Director.
Over the last several years Dr. Jeffrey Kramer has been the medical director for a project running mobile medical clinics in Ghana. Working with International Needs, a Christian global development organization, a group of American and Ghanaian medical professionals team up to provide healthcare to villages that have little or no access to medical care. Each year they spend ten days travelling to remote villages in the Volta Region of Ghana. Two years ago, they began incorporating ultrasound in their care. The clinics are high volume – up to 700 patients a day are seen by only six physicians. Dr. Chidinma Nwakanma has also been involved with this project.
Dr. AJ Dean (retired) has helped develop EM training in Guatemala and is a leader in ultrasound training in low-resource settings. Dr. Cesar Soto has worked with MedGlobal. Dr. Melissa Villa conducts work in Peru. Dr. Utsha Khatri (class of 2019; alumna of the National Clinician Scholars Program) has worked in Kathmandu, Nepal; Dr. Erik Bluntinger (class of 2019) completed a rotation at Khayelitsha Hospital, South Africa; Dr. Katherine Brodie (class of 2021) studied medical Spanish in Spain; Dr. David Shapiro (class of 2022) provided primary and acute care in Guatemala; and Drs. Mobolaji Fowose (class of 2024) and Julia Schiff (class of 2024) worked with International Needs in Ghana.
