Paving my own path in Global Health

By Chelsea McMullen
MSc-GH Candidate

When given a choice between a simple, quick path or a longer, more complicated and uncertain path, I find myself most often taking the latter. In my chosen field of Global Health, it sometimes feels as if there are no other options. 

My master’s fieldwork is taking me to the Democratic Republic of Congo, on a road I had dreamed of, but never pictured myself traveling; a One Health-themed journey into the realm of humans, primates, and viruses. Into the land where many of our most feared and deadly diseases originated – HIV/AIDS and Ebola Virus Disease, for example. 

Isn’t This Road Foreign Enough?

I came to Duke because of the University’s intense encouragement for interdisciplinary study. I knew that if I wanted to be able to one day halt globe-trotting viruses, I would need to gain experience not typically included in the scientific bubble: health is a political field with strong bureaucratic and economic pulls. Thus, I chose to apply to the Sanford School’s Global Policy and Governance program as a Global Health Fellow, and spent the past summer in Geneva, Switzerland, interning with the World Health Organization’s Global Malaria Programme.

Interning with GMP

I spent many hours studying malaria case management, the internal and external anatomy of various mosquito species, and analyzing survey data using skills I learned in my first-year coursework; experiences which will come in handy for my fieldwork. However, the major benefits from this summer didn’t necessarily stem from work I did; they came from the exposure this program gave me to the complex network of actors in the global health field, and my daily presence in WHO Headquarters. I interacted with a diverse team of malaria specialists every day, and saw firsthand the difficult, lengthy process of establishing policy that applies on a global scale.  

The Very Intensive Course

During the five day intensive course for Global Health Fellows, I participated in discussions with leaders in the fields of nutrition, universal health care, and health systems thinking, among many others. I visited organizations like the Global Fund and UNITAID, and I picked the brains of various leaders in the fascinating entity of Public Private Partnerships (PPP’s) like FIND (Finding Innovative New Diagnostics), and MMV (Medicines for Malaria Venture). These candid conversations with such a wide range of organizations allowed us to question how each one viewed the others, how they worked together, and what their decision-making process was during historic inter-organizational events. 

Arguably the most valuable experience of my professional life, this week elaborated on some of my known interests, like nutrition and epidemiological transitions, but also exposed me to the unfamiliar and exciting territories of pharmaceutical policy, PPP’s, and specifically fever diagnostics — I grew more and more concerned by the overall lack of innovation and development in this technology, as I questioned the agendas of various organizations.

My experience in Geneva was most definitely worth the hassle it took to get there. After postponing my fieldwork for three months, obtaining two visas (and one denied visa), six new vaccinations (okay, that was for Congo), a month of searching for flight deals daily, and more hours on planes than I want to count, I am glad I paved my own road for my jagged and wandering journey in Global Health this year, and I am excited to head down the next leg of it!