Global health security: the wider lessons from the west African Ebola virus disease epidemic.

The Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa was unprecedented in both its scale and impact. Out of this human calamity has come renewed attention to global health security--its definition, meaning, and the practical implications for programmes and policy. For example, how does a government begin to strengthen its core public health capacities, as demanded by the International Health Regulations? What counts as a global health security concern? In the context of the governance of global health, including WHO reform, it will be important to distil lessons learned from the Ebola outbreak. The Lancet invited a group of respected global health practitioners to reflect on these lessons, to explore the idea of global health security, and to offer suggestions for next steps. Their contributions describe some of the major threats to individual and collective human health, as well as the values and recommendations that should be considered to counteract such threats in the future. Many different perspectives are proposed. Their common goal is a more sustainable and resilient society for human health and wellbeing.

Training Toward a Movement: Career Development Insights From the First 7 Years of a Global Health Equity Residency.

BACKGROUND: The Doris and Howard Hiatt Residency in Global Health Equity and Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital provides global health training during residency, but little is known about its effect on participants' selection of a global health career. OBJECTIVE: We assessed the perceptions of residency graduates from the first 7 classes to better understand the outcomes of this education program, and the challenges faced by participants. METHODS: We interviewed 27 of 31 physicians (87%) who graduated from the program between 2003 and 2013 using a convergent mixed-methods design and a structured interview tool that included both open-ended and forced-choice questions. We independently coded and analyzed qualitative data using a case study design, and then wove together the qualitative and quantitative data at the interpretation phase using a parallel convergent mixed-methods design. RESULTS: Entering a career focused on social justice was cited as the most common motivator for selecting to train in global health. Most respondents (83%, 20 of 24) reported they were able to achieve this goal despite structural barriers, such as lower salaries compared with peers, a lack of mentors in the field, poorly structured and undersupported career pathways at their institutions, and unique work-life challenges. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of graduates from 1 dedicated residency program in global health and internal medicine reported they were able to continue to engage in global health activities after graduation and, despite identified challenges, reported that they planned long-term careers in global health.

Addressing the "Global Health Tax" and "Wild Cards": Practical Challenges to Building Academic Careers in Global Health.

Among many possible benefits, global health efforts can expand the skills and experience of U.S. clinicians, improve health for communities in need, and generate innovations in care delivery with relevance everywhere. Yet, despite high rates of interest among students and medical trainees to include global health opportunities in their training, there is still no clear understanding of how this interest will translate into viable and sustained global health careers after graduation. Building on a growing conversation about how to support careers in academic global health, this Perspective describes the practical challenges faced by physicians pursuing these careers after they complete training. Writing from their perspective as junior faculty at one U.S. academic health center with a dedicated focus on global health training, the authors describe a number of practical issues they have found to be critical both for their own career development and for the advice they provide their mentees. With a particular emphasis on the financial, personal, professional, and logistical challenges that young "expat" global health physicians in academic institutions face, they underscore the importance of finding ways to support these career paths, and propose possible solutions. Such investments would not only respond to the rational and moral imperatives of global health work and advance the mission of improving human health but also help to fully leverage the potential of what is already an unprecedented movement within academic medicine.

A Framework for Assessing Responsibility in Intergovernmental Partnerships.

Advancing the health of the poor requires aligning a wide array of interests, all of which influence how health care is delivered. Global health professionals often face difficult decisions that can affect their working relationships with government officials, local colleagues, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and private sector interests. This article proposes a "compass-based" framework that urges global health professionals to act in a way that is both morally sound and pragmatically effective. Global health professionals must follow their "moral compass" and act in alignment with the interests of the communities they seek to serve while, at the same time, utilizing their "effectiveness compass" to navigate complex situations in ways that ensure achievement of practicable change that can motivate better health outcomes for those in need.