The Global Health Academic Concentration
Follow UC San Diego School of Medicine's GHAC students around the world.
First impressions, gut instincts, and intuition are interesting things. We are taught, whether blatantly or subconsciously, to trust these feelings—It’s necessary. They help make rapid decision-making possible. The ER doctor in the middle of running a code, the police officer responding to a call, the solo female traveler walking down an unknown street, they all … Continue reading First Impressions
I was beyond excited to find out that I would be spending the summer of 2017 in Uganda conducting field research on malaria. I was originally inspired to pursue medicine by the example and ideas of Dr. Paul Farmer, who has spent his career working in low-resource settings and advocating for a preferential option for … Continue reading Mt. Kilimanjaro: You are doing good, you are doing great
I have officially been in Ecuador for 1 week and 1 day! It has been quite the adventure thus far. I arrived after midnight and thus stayed in a hotel in Quito my first night. I met my coworkers and host family the next day. I could not be any luckier; my host family is … Continue reading Las primeras Aventuras en Ecuador de Li-Li
Living in Santiago and hanging out at the University of Chile, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology over the last two months has been dope! After working with Dr. Sheila Gahagan at UC San Diego Pediatrics, Child Development and Community Health, and corresponding with Dr. Raquel Burrows and Dr. Paulina Correa through email, I was … Continue reading Nutrition and nature around Santiago, Chile
Though the project is ongoing, I thought I should let everyone know what I’ve been doing with all that GHAC funding! From June to August, I was in Maputo, Mozambique working with the incomparable Dr. Ana Olga Mocumbi endeavoring to assess the burden of non-communicable disease (NCD) on the Mozambican health system. The basic background … Continue reading Update: Assessment of the Impact of NCD on Mozambican Health System
On Friday, the group, ESPINA, for which I have been working completed its data gathering portion of the study as they seek to determine the effects of secondary exposure to pesticides in children. In total, we collected data in 5 different cities within the county of Pedro Moncayo and over 400 hundred children were included … Continue reading Coming to a close
Since I am working at the Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos, it is only fitting that I post about some of Chile’s culinary delights. Be warned that there is a non-zero risk of comer sin hambre after seeing some of these pictures. Seafood galore: some of my favorite seafood dishes include merluza … Continue reading Eating my way through Chile, one empanada at a time
My experience trying to do research in Mozambique was first and foremost a lesson in patience. I think any time people from different cultures, experiences, or training levels are working together, patience and openness are the key to that relationship. Mozambique certainly presents a culture that is much slower pace and significantly more patient than … Continue reading Lessons in Patience and Resilience
This summer (or Chile’s winter), I am working at INTA, el Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos in Santiago, Chile. 7:00 AM: The goal time to wake up (aka when my alarm goes off) 7:30 AM: The real time when I wake up… 8:00 AM: I walk to the bus stop and wait … Continue reading A Day in the Life at INTA
When traveling, I’ve found that it’s easy to turn cities into check lists and destinations into collectibles. As a tourist, I’m often swept up in trying to get the most bang for my buck, cramming all the hot spots into a few precious days. But living in Santiago, I have the luxury of experiencing more … Continue reading To the little moments