CMF Global

Developing Health Course

CMF Global is delighted to report a great four-day, online Developing Health Course (DHC) in July. We had a range of UK-trained health professionals join at various stages of their career, along with some bursary participants from various countries. The four days were titled:1. Universal, equitable, people-centred, and integrated health services for women and children2. The global burden of trauma: learning to lead in resource-limited settings3. Equity in holistic healthcare: chronic illness and fragile communities4.Integrated care management: involving wider stakeholders and engaging with the community.

The online course was taught and facilitated by people from India, Bangladesh, Uganda, Nigeria, Scotland, and of course, England. The upside of an online event was the diversity we enjoyed as we learnt together. One delegate commented that ‘it’s been such a privilege to discuss global health with a really strong gospel underpinning’. The programme also included time for informal lunchtime discussion in breakout rooms, opportunities for one-to-one prayer with a CMF pastoral partner and a communion service on the final day.

As part of continuing this learning community, every DHC participant is invited to our monthly online modular learning, a new feature of DHC. There will be eight sessions across the 2021-2022 academic year. Between now and Christmas we have run or will be running the following:

• Tuesday 28 September 12-2pm (UK time) – New developments in global mental health and their practical application with Dr Julian Eaton
• Tuesday 26 October 12-2pm – Healthcare without hurting with Greg Seager
• Tuesday 30 November 12-2pm – Women’s health with Dr Chris Edwards

If anyone would like to join in on these sessions, you can book via the website at cmf.li/DHCMods21-22 We plan to return to an in-person format next year, holding the DHC at the London School of Theology on 10-16 July 2022. DHC 2022 will be a one-week course with two parallel tracks of teaching.

Elective Lite

Our very first Elective Lite took place on 3-4 September 2021 in partnership with CMF mission partners in Nepal. We were aware that travel restrictions, life commitments, and cost mean that physical travel to another country may not be possible for everyone at this time. With this in mind we developed a virtual medical student elective, offering the chance for a condensed interactive elective through CMF mission partners in Nepal.International medical placements are a great way to gain experience of global health and Christian outreach through medicine. They can be an opportunity to experience a new culture, different ways to practise medicine and explore a potential career working in medical mission. Elective placements can provide rich learning, networking, and personal development. They can also be a lot of fun! We also know that such electives are often critical experiences in exploring global health and mission and can lead to really fruitful partnerships between hospitals and students.

Elective Lite was developed as two half-days online to provide a window into healthcare mission, and to ensure that these valuable opportunities continue to be available. Sessions included medical teaching, a tour of the hospital, discussions about Nepali culture and the chance to join in the English prayer and worship time at the hospital. One student commented that, ‘it felt incredibly insightful and inspiring to be able to visually get an idea of…the work’. When asked what the main learning points had been, another student answered, ‘We serve, Jesus heals! I think it’s shown me the importance of being a medic that can teach other skills, not only treat sick people but equip others with the skills I’ve learnt.’

The team in Nepal also echoed these encouragements, reflecting that they had missed having students around; it was also inspiring for them to be reminded of what has brought them to the hospital and to keep pressing on through all the challenges and joys. We plan to run another Elective Lite in 2022 – hopefully with Nepal again, but we would also be open to developing a programme with organisations in other locations, so watch this space!

Guiding Principles for Integrity in Global Health & The Advocacy Journey

As you may be aware, CMF has for many years been actively engaged in public policy work, advocating around many issues here in the UK. More recently, we have been challenged about how we can encourage and support our members working overseas to see God’s heart for justice and compassion worked out in advocacy. A small group, aided by information from our overseas members about what would be useful, spearheaded the development of a small publication titled The Advocacy Journey: engaging in advocacy for global health. We hope it will be an invaluable resource for healthcare professionals engaging in advocacy for global health. Available to order from the CMF Bookstore.CMF Global has also been challenged to articulate Guiding Principles for Integrity in Global Health, aimed at Christian healthcare workers. You can find a digital copy of a postcard of the twelve principles at cmf.li/GPIGH Email globalcoordinator@cmf.org.uk if you would like to receive physical copies. You can download the full document, explaining why we believe these things are important at cmf.li/GPIGH-full We are thankful to the individuals working in global health and mission who took the time to join Zoom conversations and help us develop these. We are also extremely grateful to our two Deep:ER volunteers, Diana Pereira, and Daniel Lange, who used their time volunteering with CMF to develop these publications.