January 2024
Global Pediatrics Program Newsletter
Nadia Sam-Agudu, MD, CTropMed ®
Happy New Year, all!
I hope everyone had a great holiday period of fun, rest, or just time with family. I am looking forward to a 2024 of both personal growth and group fulfilment for faculty, students, trainees and staff in our Global Pediatrics Program.
We ended 2023 with updates to our one-year and five-year program goals, in the subcategories of Research, Education and Advocacy, with Partnerships as a crosscutting area. The one year (now 18 month) goals include a renewed focus on research initiatives and goals, including significantly increasing research productivity in terms of grants submitted and papers published. Increased research productivity also means expanding opportunities and funding for mentoring and teaching students and trainees, including Global Peds residents.
We are also recruiting faculty for Global Peds Education leadership positions (Director Global Peds Education and Director Global Peds Partnerships). We look forward to announcing the two successful candidates in a few weeks.
We have exciting GRAPES sessions coming up, and attending these will help Global Peds residents fulfil some of their Passport obligations.
There is so much more planned for this year and we will communicate these in due course.
Thank you for your work and dedication to global health for children in 2023, and much appreciation for your continued participation and contributions in 2024!
NASA
Nadia A. Sam-Agudu, MD, CTropMed®
Upcoming Events
Global Resident Acquiring Pediatrics Education Series (GRAPES)
Thursday, February 1 | 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Topic: Rheumatic Heart Disease with Dr. Dan Peck
Passport #: 26 - Acute Rheumatic Fever
Location: Wilf 1 & 2
Global Resident Acquiring Pediatrics Education Series (GRAPES)
Thursday, February 15 | 5:15 - 7:15 p.m.
Topic: Global Hematology: Exercises in Practical Optimization with Dr. Alex Boucher
Passport #: 25 - Global Hematology
Location: Wilf 1 & 2
Grand Rounds
Wednesday, March 27 | 7:30 - 8:30 a.m.
Topic: Dr. Howard will be presented during Grand Rounds with the Gold-Headed Cane Award
Location: Wilf Auditorium
Global Instructor Update
Mounika Muttineni, DO
Instructor year round 2 - it’s been so chaotic but in the best way possible. With clinical weeks, a week long wedding in India, and planning a global peds international trip, my year has been busy and my travel miles have hit an all time peak.
While I have still spent much of my clinical time in Cheyenne River Health Center (Eagle Butte, SD) and Fairview Ridges Hospital, I started working at White Earth Health Center - a new IHS affiliation in Northern Minnesota ~3 hours, 30 minutes from Minneapolis. It is strictly an outpatient position, with no calls or weekend duties. It has been a wonderful experience, with the most amazing staff, patients, and not to mention housing & views. I have made some amazing new friends and learned so much primary care.
My time with IHS has definitely made me re-fall in love with primary care and all of its intricacies, and that’s saying a lot for someone who loves her hospital medicine. Primary care at an IHS site can also be quite different from primary care elsewhere. It poses a unique set of challenges that accompany a rural and heavily under resourced sect of the nation. For example, making referrals is not as simple a task as if would be anywhere else. They are not quickly arranged, and even if they are often times patients have to travel hours to see a specialist. This is true for even something as simple as a dental appointment! So, in this environment, I found myself eager to learn so that I could do more for my patients and make less knee-jerk referrals. Overall, it’s a super rewarding experience with a very steep learning curve - and you make the best friends along the way!
Believe it or not, I made a life long friendship in Cheyenne River Health Center, after only meeting for 4 days on an overlapping rotation. She later flew to India for my wedding! My colleagues (now friends) from Paramitha Children’s Hospital from Hyd, India (where I spent much of my 1st global instructor year) were also there ♥️.
Here are some pics from the wedding! And of this Thanksgiving, which I spent at Courtney (a wonderful pediatric nurse practitioner at White Earth Health Center)
Global Instructor 2025-2026
Global Pediatrics is recruiting an Instructor for the 2025-2026 academic year. This is an exciting opportunity for a pediatrics or medicine/pediatrics Global Pediatrics Track resident graduating in 2024, who is interested in a career in global child health. This is a 12-month, July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026, faculty instructor position.
If you are interested, please email Emily Danich (edanich@umn.edu) by March 29, 2024 with your:
CV
Brief (one page) personal statement describing why you would like to be a global pediatrics instructor
Your vision and goals for the year (one page)
The Global Pediatrics Instructor role is a unique leadership opportunity for a self-motivated individual with strong interest in pursuing a career in global health and academics. As a Global Pediatrics Instructor, you will have educational and organizational responsibilities within the Global Pediatrics Track, such as: 1) planning and implementing the global pediatrics curriculum; 2) integrating global health topics into the general residency curriculum; and 3) mentoring global pediatrics residents.
During the year, you will have clinical attending responsibilities for approximately 12 weeks a year. These 12 weeks could be a mix of various clinical services including; Indian Health Services (IHS), and M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital.
In addition, you will have protected time to do international or domestic global health work of your choice in your specific area of interest. This role can be individualized to suit your needs and goals. We can address your specific questions during your interview, or you can email Emily Danich directly at edanich@umn.edu.
Dr. Mo Muttineni and Dr. Cassidy Huun are our global instructors this year, please reach out to them if you are considering this position, but need some clarifications. You can reach out to the Program Director, Dr. Nadia Sam-Agudu.
Resident Spotlight
Joe de Jonge, MD - MP2
Dr. Joe de Jonge is a second year in the Med-Peds program, and a New Yorker, born and raised in Manhattan. He took a meandering path to Medicine with some detours in New Orleans, Mexico City, and Lima (where he rotated in a TB hospital). Along the way Joe overcame (only) some of his skepticism regarding our healthcare system and of “global health." So he really appreciates the ethical commitment of the Global Pediatrics program here at UMN. His clinical interests include critical care across the age spectrum, sexual health, refugee and migrant healthcare. His continuity clinic is the Center for International Healthon the adult side and Midway for pediatrics, both of which serve a largely refugee/immigrant population in St. Paul. Joe is also committed to advocating for a more just (ideally single-payer) health care system.
Favorite Quote: “Let me respectfully remind you: Life and Death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. On this night, the days of our lives are reduced by one. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken! Take heed! Do not squander your life.” -New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care Evening Gatha
Favorite Travel Destination: Tokyo and Mexico City.
What the World Needs More Of: Justice and compassion.
If I weren't a physician, I would be: Who knows! Maybe a public defender?
Global Child Health Literature and Awards
Dr. Cindy Howard is the recipient of the 2024 Gold-Headed Cane Award and it will be presented at the March 27th Grand Rounds which is 7:30-8:30 a.m. Grand Rounds will be available in person and via Zoom.
Sam-Agudu NA, Besson EK. For African Countries, the End of PEPFAR Shouldn't Be Unthinkable; It is Inevitable. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2023 Dec 20:piad110. doi: 10.1093/jpids/piad110. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38118004.
Foláyan MO, Ramos-Gomez F, Fatusi OA, Nabil N, Lyimo GV, Minja IK, Masumo RM, Mohamed N, Potgieter N, Matanhire C, Maposa P, Akino CR, Adeniyi A, Mohebbi SZ, Ellakany P, Chen J, Amalia R, Iandolo A, Peedikayil FC, Aravind A, Al-Batayneh OB, Khader YS, Al-Maweri SA, Sabbah W, Abeldaño Zuñiga RA, Vukovic A, Jovanovic J, Jafar RM, Maldupa I, Arheiam A, Mendes FM, Uribe SE, López Jordi MDC, Villena RS, Duangthip D, Sam-Agudu NA, El Tantawi M. Child dental neglect and legal protections: a compendium of briefs from policy reviews in 26 countries and a special administrative region of China. Front Oral Health. 2023 Oct 20;4:1211242. doi: 10.3389/froh.2023.1211242. PMID: 38024146; PMCID: PMC10646161.
Babah OA, Akinajo OR, Beňová L, Hanson C, Abioye AI, Adaramoye VO, Adeyemo TA, Balogun MR, Banke-Thomas A, Galadanci HS, Sam-Agudu NA, Afolabi BB, Larsson EC. Prevalence of and risk factors for iron deficiency among pregnant women with moderate or severe anaemia in Nigeria: a cross-sectional study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2024 Jan 5;24(1):39. doi: 10.1186/s12884-023-06169-1. PMID: 38182997; PMCID: PMC10768359.
Catch up on Past Events
Wednesday, November 16, 2023 "Hypothesis Testing Revisited: How to Interpret the Main Outcome from That RCT" with Dr. Burt Lee. After you've watched the presentation, please fill out our evaluation.
Global Pediatrics Track Passport - Don't forget to Log-It!
You need to complete 75% of the passport to graduate on the Track. Make sure to log into Canvas.umn.edu to document your progress.
Please consider a tax-deductible donation, if possible. We use these funds to bring trainees and faculty here from our international partner sites. The trainees do four to six week electives during the summer in our hospitals and clinics. We are grateful that we have been able to bring faculty here as well to present their research and collaborate with colleagues here in Minneapolis.
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