Purpose: The United States is seeing a shift in its epidemiologic
landscape, with diseases once considered “tropical”, such as Chagas, Dengue,
and malaria, now appearing as endemic or locally acquired cases. Standard MD
curricula often cover these topics briefly, leaving graduates underprepared.
This project describes a hybrid curriculum that combines online didactics
with immersive clinical training, developed through a public-private
partnership between Saint James School of Medicine and the Ministry of Health
of Suriname.
Methods: The curriculum targets fourth year medical students, with
expansion to nurses and public health trainees. Learners complete an online
didactic component before a four week clinical elective in Suriname focused
on end to end clinical care in low resource settings. Students participate in
phlebotomy, specimen prep, microscopy for pathogen identification, medication
compounding and dispensing, and documentation within a nationalized health
system. The curriculum also emphasizes community based care with local
providers.
Results: A pilot cohort of senior medical students completed the inaugural
rotation. Participants helped diagnose and manage conditions rarely seen in
typical US rotations, including leprosy, congenital syphilis, and
leishmaniasis. Post rotation reflections indicated that the end to end
training model increased confidence in resource limited diagnosis and systems
based practice. The pilot also demonstrated feasibility of the partnership,
with protocols for student integration into government run clinics.
Conclusions: As tropical diseases migrate northward, medical graduates
require more than textbook knowledge of vector borne illnesses. This model
suggests that international partnerships can provide hands on training in
Tropical Medicine and better prepare physicians for global health challenges
and future domestic outbreaks.