Global Health 'Webinar' Set for Feb. 17

Medical students in Family Medicine Interest Groups across the country are invited to participate in a Web-based educational forum that will introduce them to the many opportunities to practice family medicine in communities around the world. "Global Health: Preparation for International and Underserved Practice" will begin at 7 p.m. CT on Feb. 17.

Participants in the "webinar" will watch a 25-minute video in which medical students, residents and practicing physicians talk about their experiences in caring for diverse patient populations abroad.

The video will be followed by a live question-and-answer session with family physician Cynthia Haq, M.D., of Madison, Wis. Haq is professor of family medicine and population health sciences and director of the Center for Global Health at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison.

Haq has focused her career on improving and promoting primary health care, especially for medically underserved populations. She has trained village health workers in Uganda, established family medicine training in Pakistan, served as a consultant to the World Health Organization, and worked to improve medical education in the United States, Afghanistan, Brazil, China and Iran.

The event is the first of a three-part series of live "webisodes" sponsored by the AAFP Foundation.