American Medical Student Association Selects Global Health Scholar from
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

New Brunswick -Wan-Ju Wu, a first year medical student at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has been selected as one of eight Global Health Scholars, a program of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA). A resident of Edison, New Jersey, Wan-Ju was one of 364 applicants who applied nationally for this honor.

“We are very proud that one of our students has been selected to participate in a project of this caliber and we commend her dedication and commitment to international health,” states Peter S. Amenta, MD, PhD, interim dean of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Wan-Ju received her bachelor’s degree in international relations from Brown University and her master’s of public health from Boston University, with a concentration in international health. She completed projects in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, and southwestern China. Most recently she spent one year in Kenya conducting an independent research project on community-based programming and developing safe places where adolescent girls can build friendships, share thoughts, and gain access to sexual and reproductive health information.

While her focus in international health is still evolving, she is currently interested in women’s health issues including topics such as the intersection of gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS as well as economic and social disparities that place women at increased health risks. As project manager for Kisumu Medical and Educational Trust’s Sisterhood for Change Program, she assisted in developing and implementing a participatory photography project, sexual and reproductive health training, and a vocational training program.

“I am very excited about being chosen for this honor,” says Wan-Ju. “It’s an excellent way for me to build my skills in global health issues and to look at the big picture while focusing on medical school.”

The Global Health Scholars Program is a comprehensive 8-month long program of the American Medical Student Association designed to allow promising, motivated health professional students to develop advanced advocacy, communication, and critical thinking skills with which to effect change in global health. This year the Scholars will focus their work and activities related to Pediatric Global Health, studying such topics as mental health: child soldiers, refugees, orphans; gender in adolescent development; and disease prevention: vaccine, nutrition, and education.

If you would like more information about AMSA’s scholars program, go to http://www.amsa.org/global/scholarsprogram.cfm

UMDNJ-ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON MEDICAL SCHOOL

As one of the nation’s leading comprehensive medical schools, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in education, research, health care delivery, and the promotion of community health. In cooperation with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the medical school’s principal affiliate, they comprise New Jersey’s premier academic medical center. In addition, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has 34 hospital affiliates and ambulatory care sites throughout the region.

As one of the eight schools of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey with 2,500 full-time and volunteer faculty, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School encompasses 22 basic science and clinical departments and hosts centers and institutes including The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, and the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey. The medical school maintains educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels for more than 1,500 students on its campuses in New Brunswick, Piscataway, and Camden, and provides continuing education courses for health care professionals and community education programs.