Summary

Global health, defined by the World Health Organization as “priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide,” is an expanded view of traditional public health. While utilizing many of the tools widely taught in schools of public health, its emphasis is both on reaching the poorest and most isolated populations and transferring knowledge and skills for their benefit. Extensive and continuous field interactions and collaboration with the populations for whom health interventions are intended to benefit are very important. Thus, immersion in local culture and society, language skills, and active listening are key attributes for a global health professional to acquire. These apply to local health workers as well as expatriates. A broad array of disciplinary insights, ranging from clinical medicine to social sciences, communication strategies, and team building, are often more valuable than a single technocentric expertise, enabling a more holistic approach to health problems. The ability to simplify suggested techniques and interventions and especially the ability to create a culturally understood logic behind biomedical explanations go a long way to establishing acceptance of health messages and advice. Introducing new ideas, habits, and procedures incrementally rather than in one large dose of instructions or training has more lasting impact on both trainees and the targeted population. Invariably, delegating both authority and responsibility to “lower-level” workers—that is, those closer to the people through tradition, familiarity, and geographic access—results in greater acceptability and uptake of desired behaviors. Learning in the field is best accomplished from observing and emulating mentor figures—those who best exemplify the attributes of a widely accepted and respected health leader. In time, one’s own role as a mentor for new recruits facilitates the transfer of attitudes and approaches that embody these important principles of global health work. In the end, one’s impact on communities will be measured by the people and institutions that one inspires and leaves to carry on the work into the future.