Miniature Golf

Tonight, the Brazilian Fogarty Fellows, two other Brazilian medical students, and I went miniature golfing at the local putt-putt course. In the photo are Andressa, me, Ila, Jamilly, and Joao. Andressa and Ila are the Brazilian Fogarty fellows who Ben and I will work with for the next year. Jamilly and Joao are medical students from the Federal University of Ceara in Fortaleza who are spending six months at UVA. For most of the crowd, it was their first miniature golf outing, and I think everyone had great fun trying their hand at the game.

Last Week of Fogarty Orientation/Return to Charlottesville

The last week of orientation flew by in Bethesda, with more presentations, a group project, and great times hanging out with the other fellows. Our sampling of international cuisine at local Bethesda restaurants continued with visits to Mexican and Afghan restaurants. The orientation concluded with group presentations in which each group had to present a potential research project. My group presented on a potential clinical trial to investigate interventions to prevent dengue fever. The project was a bit annoying in the fact that it required us to spend some evening time preparing for the presentation, but it turned out well in the end. The last week of orientation included a number of football (soccer) matches among the fellows including an epic North America VS. South America match that was lead by our North American side until the teams were redistributed as others arrived. The last night of orientation involved having dinner with many of the other fellows one final time before we all departed for sites around the world. Indeed, while we heard many interesting presentations at the orientation, the best part of the orientation was interacting with all of the other fellows from around the US and around the world. Although orientation was two short weeks in Bethesda, it seems odd now being back in Charlottesville without the rest of the fellows with whom I had spent the last few week. I look forward to our reunion at the interview conference for the 2008-2009 class of fellows, and hope to see at least some of the fellows before then, perhaps during our vacation time.

I’ll be here in Charlottesville for further orientation specific to my project and my research site for one more week. I’m spending time in the lab of our PI, Dr. Guerrant, along with Ben (the other US Fellow going to Fortaleza), Nate (another UVA student going to Fortaleza on a Pfizer grant), and Ila and Andressa (the two Brazilian Fogarty Fellows). I’ll return to Maryland on July 30, and Ben and I will depart Philadelphia for Fortaleza on August 2. Ila and Andressa will return to Brazil 10 days later, and Nate will join us in Fortaleza later in August. In September, the Fortaleza crew will be complete with the arrival of another UVA medical student, also named Chris, another Pfizer grant recipient.

It seems odd that I now only have a week left in Charlottesville and ten days left in the United States before my departure. I still have much to do in the way of preparation and packing, but things seem to be on course for my departure.

Weekend at Fogarty-Ellison Orientation

The weekend at Fogarty-Ellison orientation has been a great time to get to know some of the other fellows and see the Bethesda and Washington D.C. areas. My activities this weekend included a visit to the Smithsonian, a trip to a Washington Nationals game, and watching the World Cup final Sunday.

Saturday, I traveled into Washington D.C. with several of the U.S. and foreign site fellows. We arrived on the metro, and set off in two groups bound for various sites in our nation’s capital. A group of the foreign site fellows accompanied by one of the U.S. fellows headed to the White House and other monuments, while I headed to the Smithsonian along with two of the fellows from Yale. Paul (U.S. Fogarty: Lima, Peru), Libby (U.S. Fogarty: Chennai, India) and I headed first for the National Gallery (of Art), a museum I had not previously visited. After lunch at the folk festival on the National Mall, we all headed to the Museum of Natural History, meeting up with the group who had traveled to the White House. Finally, Paul and I checked out the Air and Space Museum, while the other fellows returned to Bethesda. Unfortunately by this point, most of the foreign site fellows were tired from walking around D.C., and so we were unable to get a large group for the Nationals game. Undeterred, Paul and I took the Metro out to the game, and were able to get great tickets behind third base for a game that we later learned was also attended by President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. The Nationals lost 5-2 to the San Diego Padres, but this game, which was the first National League game that I have attended, was still quite fun.

Sunday afternoon began with brunch at our program director’s home in Silver Spring, and ended with watching the World Cup final, won by Italy on penalty kicks. Penalties are definitely a tough way to lose a cup final… With my favorite teams USA, England, and Cote d’Ivoire long since out of the competition, I was hoping to see Zidane of France conclude his international career with a second cup victory, but instead saw his career end with a reckless head butt that resulted in his ejection during extra time. An unfortunate end to a stellar international football career.

Sunday evening involved Japanese food for dinner, at the local Benihana restaurant. At this restaurant, we watched as our food was prepared and cooked on the table right before our eyes, which was quite the experience. It proved to be a great dinner with twenty of the other Fogarty fellows, and a nice end to the weekend. Tomorrow, we’ll return to orientation with epidemiology in the morning, and country presentations in small regional groups in the afternoon.

Week 1: Fogarty-Ellison Orientation

I’m writing now from the Fogarty-Ellison orientation in Bethesda, Maryland. It has been a great three days thus far, as the 23 U.S. and 24 foreign site fellows have gathered together at the NIH in Bethesda for 2 weeks of orientation. It has been great meeting fellows from such places as Brazil, Zambia, Peru, Bangladesh, India, Thailand, and Botswana. It has also been great to again see many of the US students whom I met at the program selection conference in March. The Fogarty fellows are an incredible group of people, with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and interests. It has been a great pleasure to meet all of the other fellows, and I look forward to the remainder of our time in Bethesda.

Thus far, we have had introductory sessions, sessions on the roles of the World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO), and sessions on the history of clinical research and the process of grant writing. Also, we have had a few sessions focusing on the state of the science with respect to specific diseases. Thus far, we have heard presentations on maternal and child health, malaria, and tuberculosis.

In our free time in the evenings, we all have tended to gather for dinner in large groups of US and foreign-site fellows at various restaurants in Bethesda. I had Thai food on Wednesday, and tonight a group of 21 of us ate at an Indian restaurant. You might imagine how hard it was for us to find a restaurant in Bethesda on a Friday night with a table for 21…

I thought I’d leave you with a few concepts discussed in some of the presentations thus far. These are facts and concepts with which I and many of the other fellows are quite familiar, but I realize that some of those reading this may not be as familiar with the status of health around the world.

Economics: Greater than 1 billion people in the world live on less than $1 per day. Approximately half of the world’s population lives on less than $2 per day.

Poverty and Health: Poverty is the result of poor health. We often assume that health is poor in developing countries due to poverty, but in many respects, it is the disability resulting from poor health that leaves many countries in poverty. In reality, both sides of this statement are likely true, but we often fail to consider the economic impacts of poor health.

I hope to revisit some of these issues in later posts. Orientation has been great thus far, and tomorrow (Saturday) will be a day off. We plan to visit some of the museums and monuments in Washington D.C. with some of the foreign site fellows. Despite living so close to D.C., it actually has been several years since I’ve visited the Smithsonian or monuments of D.C., so I’m looking forward to the day tomorrow. I may also catch a Washington Nationals game tomorrow night with some of the other fellows.