Global Health Summer Institute

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the University of Michigan School of Nursing Global Health Summer Institute on May 13 - 14, 2024. This year's event focused on "Uniting for Global Mental Health Equity," bringing together experts and participants from around the world to share their insights and advance global mental health initiatives.

Save the Date for 2025

We are excited to announce the dates for next year's Global Health Summer Institute. Mark your calendars for May 12 - 13, 2025, when we will explore the theme "Innovate Health: Technology and Transformation."

Stay tuned for more updates and details on next year's event. We look forward to seeing you in 2025!

UMSN Global Health Summer Institute 2024 Brings Together Over 270 Participants from 29 Countries

The University of Michigan School of Nursing (UMSN) Office of Global Affairs recently concluded its highly anticipated Global Health Summer Institute 2024, held virtually from May 13 - May 14. With the theme, “Uniting for Global Mental Health Equity,” more than 270 participants from 29 countries came together to explore critical issues and innovative solutions in mental health care.

In its sixth year, the two-day event's virtual format provided a seamless and accessible experience for attendees and featured keynote presentations from several renowned experts who led discussions on mental health in low-resource settings, psychosocial support in humanitarian response, and best practices in global research. Each day included breakout discussions focused on clinical practice, research and policy, and ended with flash presentations from global scholars.

One attendee expressed their appreciation by noting, "I am grateful for the chance to learn from outstanding experts and for the opportunity to enhance my understanding and re-examine various subjects from new angles."

Another participant expressed gratitude, stating, "I am thankful for the chance to participate, expand my knowledge, and widen my viewpoints with your help. I look forward to potentially collaborating on scholarly projects in the future."

2023 Global summer institute explored the intersection of research, practice and advocacy in climate change and health equity, in local and global contexts.

The University of Michigan School of Nursing's 2023 Global Health Summer Institute took place May 15th through May 16th in a virtual format, drawing a record number of 510 registrants from 33 countries and territories. The year the theme was, "Climate Change and Health Equity: Reducing Risk and Promoting Resilience". The Global Health Summer Institute welcomed eight global presenters that presented across six sessions on topics such as maternal and child health in socially marginalized groups, disaster preparedness planning in health systems, climate impacts of the war in Ukraine, procedure skills training and nurse practitioners' roles, and climate resilience within healthcare infrastructure. The second day began with a WHO/PAHO keynote session discussing the concept of One Health as "a multidisciplinary approach to optimal health for all" with speaker Laura Kahn, co-founder of the One Health Initiative, who discussed its broader implications, and speaker Christopher Oura of the University of the West Indies, who explained a specific regional application of One Health to the Caribbean. Over two days, attendees had the opportunity to learn about innovative practice, research, and policy trends while networking with practitioners, researchers, and professionals from the U-M School of Nursing and institutions around the globe.

Download PDF version of the agenda and bios.

The University of Michigan School of Nursing's 2022 Global Health Summer Institute explored the intersection of women's health and chronic health conditions through clinical, policy and research tracks in local and global contexts.

Women’s health has always been an important topic in health care, but specifics regarding care differ vastly on a global scale based on geographic, social and economic elements. Learning from researchers and experts gave participants of the 2022 U-M School of Nursing Global Health Summer Institute a unique opportunity to obtain relevant knowledge and skills as well as network with practitioners and professionals.

Topics covered throughout the May 10-12 conference included HIV, mental health, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. Started in 2017, by the U-M School of Nursing, the Global Health Summer Institute is an opportunity for attendees from around the world to come together and learn from others in the field. This year’s institute attracted a record 430 registrants with over 300 participants attending each day from 31 countries. The conference was hosted exclusively on Zoom, allowing attendees to login remotely from across the globe. Many sessions were available in Spanish with English interpretations or in English with Spanish interpretations to reach an even broader audience.

Dean Yang Hui from the Nursing College at Shanxi Medical University in China explained the impact of his students attending the conference. “My students gained a lot, especially in the area of global burden of disease statistics and have expressed a strong interest in further hands-on learning,” Hui said. “My Ph.D. students were inspired by the fact that mental health care in developing countries needs to be further developed and disseminated, especially in terms of developing country-specific toolkits.”

Attendees received up to 9.25 CNE credits and a U-M School of Nursing Certificate of Attendance.

This year, the institute welcomed 24 global presenters covering 18 topics and concluded with a WHO Collaborating Center Panel: Nurses Leadership in Addressing Chronic Disease in Women’s Health led by professors from the University of Michigan, University of Chile and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

For the first time, students and global scholars had the opportunity to present a snapshot of their current global health projects through two Flash Presentation sessions. Eighteen individuals representing U-M School of Nursing DNP students, as well as a global scholar, gave three minute flash presentations on topics such as disaster preparedness, menstrual hygiene and management of gender-based violence.

“I appreciate the support and help from the School of Nursing and am especially grateful for the platform you have built for us so that we can broaden our horizons enough and think globally and act locally,” said Hui.