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In This Issue:
From left, Michael Westerhaus, Rebecca Hutchinson, Neo Tapela, Nupur Mehta and Amy Judd.
Halfway through the final year of his residency, Nupur Mehta, MD, MPH, found himself providing overnight coverage for an entire medicine ward with 20 ICU beds and 100 internal medicine patients. He was part of a Partners In Health team that quickly responded to the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, providing much needed relief in Port-Au-Prince.
“We spent 12 or more hours a day, with no days off, trying to alleviate the really difficult situation that patients were facing,” said Mehta. “It was definitely something I’ll remember forever – and it wouldn’t have been possible without the Global Health Equity Residency.”
Mehta, Rebecca Hutchinson, MD, MPH, Neo Tapela, MD, MPH, and Michael Westerhaus, MD, MPH, graduated June 10 from the Doris and Howard Hiatt Residency in Global Health Equity. The program was established in 2004 by BWH’s Division of Global Health Equity to offer training in internal medicine, research methods, public policy and global health advocacy, along with extensive field experience at Partners In Health sites around the world.
“The residents who complete this training are the next generation of leaders in global health,” said Howard Hiatt, MD, associate chief of the Division of Global Health Equity. “Each will ultimately teach hundreds of health professionals at home and abroad, run health programs benefiting thousands and contribute to new medical research and health policies that help millions of people.”
In addition to his relief work in Haiti earlier this year, Mehta spent portions of his residency working with Partners In Health in Lesotho and Rwanda.
During her residency, Hutchinson worked with the Community Health Representative Program in Shiprock and Gallup, New Mexico, to improve community-based health services for Native American patients with chronic diseases.
Tapela worked in South Africa, Lesotho, Haiti, Rwanda and her home country of Botswana throughout the duration of her residency, caring for patients and contributing to diabetes and stroke management initiatives.
Westerhaus spent much of his residency working in Northern Uganda as an educator, clinician and medical anthropologist. He helped develop a four-week immersion course in Northern Uganda that sought to merge clinical and social medicine.
“The graduates’ accomplishments have added to the already bright luster of the Hiatt residency, which is one of the most sought-after and highly regarded training programs in the country and a model for other institutions nationwide,” said Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, president of Partners HealthCare.
In addition to the four members of the class of 2010, the graduation ceremony also honored 2010 Marshall Wolf Award in Social Medicine and Health Equity recipient Amy Judd, MS, director of program development in the Division of Global Health Equity. The award is given annually in recognition of someone who has a tremendous impact on residents, the residency program and global health equity education.
“Amy Judd’s professional expertise, unflagging commitment and generous concern for others have resulted in extraordinary contributions to the residency,” said Hiatt. “Her leadership, talent and integrity have made an indelible impression on all of us.”