ISSN 1662-4009 (online)

ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology (2018) 15 13.1 | DOI: 10.1530/ey.15.13.1

Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA


To read the full abstract: Pediatrics 2017; 139(6)

This article provides guidelines for leaders in academic institutions in high-income countries who wish to develop a global health stream in their department. We should not forget that over the last 25 years, major changes in our world have decreased the distances between nations. Pediatric residents who train in high income countries are increasingly expressing interests in global health. In our mind, this reflects as much the personal interest of the younger generation in supporting children who live in resource-limited countries as the bidirectional need for such a change. For instance, in pediatric endocrinology, and as illustrated in several other papers in this section, the future generation of pediatric endocrinologists (whether in high-income or in low-income countries) will benefit from the increased knowledge that results from global interaction. The identification of the appropriate laboratory tests to access in resource-limited countries could also generate a healthy reflection on the most appropriate use of often expensive and invasive tests in high-income countries; understanding attitudes towards newborn screening for congenital hypothyroidism or towards the quality of life of children with disorders of sex development in resource-limited settings may help the pediatric resident to optimize the care of immigrant populations in high-income countries; researching the relationship between immune function and growth in children in South America will bring new knowledge that can be applied to our understanding of growth in high-income countries. Finally, we should also not forget that global health does not only apply to children living in resource-limited settings but also to immigrant or indigenous populations living in high-income countries. Their access to medical care is often poor. For instance, in 2017, in Canada, the life expectancy of the Inuit (a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada and Alaska and who were present for several thousands of years prior to the arrival of the first Europeans) was 64 years for men and 73 years for women, respectively; 15 and 10 years lower than for the general population of Canada.

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