UBC Global Health Conference

Please look to the bottom of this post for opportunities on how YOU can get involved and help shape the GHC 2016! Even if it is with just a small and quick comment about this post.

Global Health Conference

Erick's Collage of GHC PhotosThe GHC is an annual event that had its greatly successful inauguration as a historic UBC Centennial Event on October 17, 2015.

Mission:

The GHC aims to stimulate social discussion and generate new perspectives in the successes and challenges in global health. By encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and innovative thinking we challenge our audience to critically appraise international aid and bring new perspectives to the field.

GHC at UBC 2015:

“How will you reinvent global health?”

This was the question posed by the Co-Master of Ceremonies, Erick Carreras, in the closing moments of the Opening Ceremonies to promote and engage active participation in the wondrous and novel day ahead for the conference attendees.

The program included talks by global leaders in their field, student highlighted projects presentations and poster presentations, a fireside panel of experts and students, and collectively each program item discussing the following diverse and seductive set of topics:

-3D Printing for personalized medicine

– Drone technology for medical supply delivery in remote settings

– The Art of Design for public health messages & user-friendly interfaces for medical supply labelling and smartphone “apps”

– Climate Change as the most threatening ecological determinant of health in our time

– Space Medicine for use across austere environments – both on Earth, and spaces beyond!

-Plus, much, more.

We were lucky to have received the quality of constructive feedback that we did following the conference. Feedback included both, things attendees would like to see change, and an abundance of things that were done fantastic! We are keen to be integrating the constructive feedback as a cornerstone in the organization of next year’s (2016) conference, and excited to unveil where it leads us over the coming months. Among the feedback however, one of the facts that stood out to us the most was that there was:  No respondent who could think of a similar conference that they had been to or heard of!

This was our first annual event. With a maximum capacity of 150 attendees, we sold out in just two-weeks’ time, and had large waitlists of deserving prospective delegates, presenters, and speakers. This showed to us the thirst that exists among the UBC Community to have this kind of conversation, continue it, and help make it grow. We look forward to helping make that happen with an even wider diversity of discussion topics, hosting engaging and activity oriented workshops, and a much larger capacity of attendees.

Sponsors of the GHC at UBC 2015:

We are greatly thankful for the sponsorship and partnership of the following organizations that made the GHC at UBC 2015 possible: (1) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science; (2) Faculty of Applied Science; (3) Division of Global Health in the Faculty of Medicine; (4) Sauder’s School of Business; (5) Medical Undergraduate Society; (6) Office of Pediatric Surgical Evaluation and Innovation; (7) Ethical Bean Coffee Company LTD.; (8) Enroot Meals on Demand LTD; (9) Neglected Global Diseases Initiative. We look forward to a continued and strong partnership in our many years to come.

Opportunities for Involvement:

Over the past 6 weeks, transition efforts have been in effect. We have had great success recruiting for all positions on the Organizing Committee 2016 (GHC-OC’16), except for 3 key positions.

We would thus like to share with the UBC Community today, the opportunity to apply to the GHC-OC’16 during the second round of recruitment for any of the following 3 keystone positions: (1) Speaker Coordinator, (2) Workshop Coordinator, and (3) Webmaster.

-Details forthcoming in early January on our website @ ghcubc.com

Lest not forget, other future roles you might prefer to take on that will become available as organizing continues: (1) volunteering on the day of the conference, (2) becoming an adjudicator for student presentations, and (3) potentially others!

The Future (Dec. 4, 2015 – Oct., 2016):

The Global Health Conference 2016 itself will be on a date and in a location TBD by the soon to-be fully formed and galvanized GHC Organizing Committee 2016. All details will be posted on the website as they become available.

As the new Organizing Committee begins to plan and coordinate the conference, we would be delighted to call on the UBC Community for (4) feedback on what YOU would like to see happen at this conference. Please comment below!

Now let me ask you a question as you ponder on how best to get involved with the GHC:

“How will you reinvent global health?”

Thank you, and we look forward to providing updates as we move forward through the organizing process!

We would also like to take a moment here to thank Dr. Kapoor, the conference faculty advisor, for her undying, dedicated, and relentless support in making the Global Health Conference at UBC not only a greatly successful reality, but one that will carry on and grow into the future. Without your support Dr. Kapoor, I can confidently say I would simply not be writing this post. You’ve helped make this possible.

Thank you Dr. Kapoor for your invaluable support!

Sincerely,

Erick Carreras on behalf of the GHC-OC’15

Erick Carreras, BSc

Co-Chair | Director of Sponsorship

Organizing Committee | Global Health Conference 2015

Medical Undergraduate Society | University of British Columbia

2750 Heather Street, Vancouver, BC Canada V5Z 4M2

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