Office of Student Research

International Opportunities

Student Opportunities Clinical & Scientific Meetings Contests, Essays & Service Awards Courses (external) Grant Routing International Opportunities Research Fellowships Travel Grants Volunteer Research Training Program Other Links

International Electives

Many students are interested in participating in international electives for credit and for their own professional development in clinical and research environments. We do allow those experiences subject to review and approval by the School of Medicine. The quality of the educational experience and the safety of the site will factor significantly into the decision. Travel to countries with Department of State restrictions and/or high alerts will not be permitted.

Along with an International Elective Request Form, students requesting permission for international studies must review the UMB International Travel Risk Policy and review and sign the Student Travel Release. All required materials must be returned to OSA at least four weeks prior to your departure.

The following are additional links which you may find useful in preparing for an international elective:

• AMSA: www.amsa.org/global/ih
• GHEC: www.globalhealth-ec.org/GHEC/resources/IHMECguidebk_resources.htm
• CIA World Fact Book: www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook
• WHO: www.who.int/ith/en

Global Health Council

The Global Health Council is the world's largest membership alliance dedicated to saving lives by improving health throughout the world.

Global Health Education Consortium

GHEC is a consortium of faculty and health care educators dedicated to global health education in North American health professions schools and residency programs. Founded in 1991 as the International Medical Health Education Consortium (IHMEC) the growth and focus has developed and in 2005 IHMEC changed its name the Global Health Education Consortium to reflect the consortium's desire to include other health professions besides medicine and a preference for the more inclusive term of 'global' over the traditional one of 'international.' Two of the 'Resource' sites should be of interest to students and faculty alike: 1) a bibliography; 2) education and funding resources

• Global Health Bibliography
• Health-Related Sites (relevant to Health Professional and graduate students)

Global Health Resource Center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore

The purpose of the Global Health Resource Center (GHRC) is to serve the UMB campus community by acting as a single point of reference in international and global health, linking to UMB's six professional schools and coordinating GH information activities and events at UMB. Additional information including applications is available at the GHRC web site.

International Program Resources

Most of these sites contain extensive resource lists and links to other important international health sites.

• American Society for Microbiology - International Grants and Fellowships

• CDC from A-Z

• CDC Foundation (and fellowships)

• Comprehensive Rural Health Project Jamkhed, INDIA - A Community-Based Primary Health Care elective for medical students at Jamkhed International Institute for Training & Research, Comprehensive Rural Health Project, Jamkhed, India.    (PDF or MSWord)

• Directory of Grants & Fellowships in the Global Health Sciences

• Fogarty-Ellison Overseas Fellowships in Global Health and Clinical Research
  • Deadline: December 8, 2006
  • Interview:
  • Notification: End of March



• Global Health Education Consortium (GHEC) - (Previously known as the International Health Medical Education Consortium.) GHEC is dedicated to international health education in medical schools and residency programs. GHEC also has scholarships and travel awards for those interested in summer projects or international electives.

• Infectious Diseases Society of America - Summer Scholarships for Medical Students

  • International Opportunities in HIV/AIDS Medicine (see site for information on program deadlines, etc)
      ◊  Child Family Health International (CFHI)
      ◊  Inter-Community Development Involvement (ICODEI)
      ◊  Project Hope
      ◊  United Planet: Guatemala Healthcare Quest
      ◊  Vital International Foundation



• International Emergency Medicine and Health Fellowship

• International Federation of Medical Student Associations (IFMSA-USA) Conference

• International Health at Johns Hopkins University

• International Health Medical Education Consortium (IHMEC) - Contains a list of annotated international health web sites.

• Interhealth Program in Ecuador

• International Scholarships

• International Youth Leadership Conference

• Kean Tropical Medicine Travel Fellowship

• Maryland International Education Association

• National Association of Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA) - Contains useful resources for addressing safety issues in study abroad.

• The National Council for International Health (NCIH)

• National Institute on Jewish Medical Ethics
  • Deadline: March 12, 2007
  • Notification: early May



• NGO’s and Community Groups

  • Pan American Health Organization - Includes country health profiles and technical information on international health topics.

  • Physicians for Social Responsibility

  • "Supercourse" in epidemiology, the internet, and global health for medical and nursing students.

  • Tropical Medical Fellowships in the Amazon

  • United States Department of State - For travel advisories.

  • UCLA School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology - Institutional Links

  • University of Massachusetts Medical School International Health Care Opportunities Clearinghouse

• Overseas Fellowships in Global Health and Clinical Research

• Simpson Student Fund
  • Letter of intent: March 15, 2007
  • Applications due: April 1, 2007
  • Notification: April 20, 2007


• UM Institute of Human Virology Summer Research Rotation
  (UM Medical and Graduate Students only)
  • Flyer (PDF)
  • Research Opportunities (PDF)
  • Deadline: March 23, 2007
  • Contact: Daphene Altema, altema@umbi.umd.edu