UK’s First Global Health Case Competition Addresses Global Challenges

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 7, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Global Health Initiative is pleased to announce its first Global Health Case Competition.

This innovative student competition will rally graduate students from various UK colleges to form interdisciplinary teams that will develop strategies to address a critical global health challenge.

These strategies will be presented to a panel of judges Jan. 24, and the top team will be chosen to advance to the 2015 International Emory Global Health Case Competition (EGHCC) March 28 at Emory University. They will face teams from 24 other universities, and the first-place team at the Emory competition will win $6,000.

Each team will comprise six randomly grouped students that represent at least three different UK colleges. Residents, post-doctorates, and post-graduates are not eligible. Students who wish to participate may come from any UK college, but experience or interest in global health is crucial.

During the competition, each team will have 15 minutes to showcase a visual presentation, followed by a 10-minute question-and-answer portion with the judges.

Teams will be informed of the global health case the week of the case competition and will be provided a scheduled work day to collaborate with each other before the presentation day.

Although the case topic is different every year, the topic will be centered around a pressing global health issue. For example, the 2009 EGHCC case focused on Aamina, a one-year-old, malnourished Ethiopian girl. The teams were asked to act as consultants to a foundation that developed strategies to reduce the burden of malnutrition in that region of Ethiopia.

About a week prior to releasing the case topic, UK will host a Team Meet and Greet, where team members can officially meet and get to know each other, discuss strategies and participate in team-building activities. A team captain will be chosen among each group, and all team members will sign an honor code to ensure their full participation.

This competition is hosted by the Global Health Initiative, whose mission is to advance research and educational programs for students to improve the health of people throughout the world.

Students who wish to participate must register here by Dec. 1:

www.uky.edu/international/GHCCregistration.

To learn more about UK’s Global Health Case Competition, please visit www.uky.edu/international/GHCC.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sarah Geegan, (859) 257-5365; sarah.geegan@uky.edu