Rural Global Health Partnership Initiative

The Rural Global Health Partnership Initiative (RGHPI) offers grants to support rural BC physicians or medical trainees and their partners on projects based in underserved or low resource rural communities in British Columbia, other parts of Canada, or internationally.

The goals of this initiative are to promote and enhance capacity for generalism in the health services of communities in rural BC, and to foster reciprocal learning in diverse health systems and community contexts. The initiative demonstrates how global and planetary health (local and international) community partnerships can heighten awareness, create innovative solutions to address healthcare challenges in rural communities, and lead to improved health outcomes, especially for underserved, marginalized, and Indigenous populations.

*Examples of art expression submissions representing emotions and perspectives on mental health prepared by Bhutan students.*

“As future healthcare providers to Canadians […], this experience was invaluable in gaining perspective on the healthcare services available in another country. We can learn from their systems and appreciate how they are well suited for their collectivist society while also constructively seeing areas where they need improvement, for example, increasing human resources in the health sector.”

Participant in the Bhutan Youth Mental Health Resilience project

In 2024, BC medical students and physicians worked with partners in Bhutan, Nepal, and Rwanda to create and strengthen local programs, helping improve access to information and care on mental health, adolescent health, reproductive health, and sickle cell anemia. The projects funded through RGHPI are all building capacity and leaving resources in place in their host communities. In 2024, RGHPI received updates from five funded projects. Some of the highlights are outlined below.

Achievements

Bhutan Youth Mental Health Resilience Project – Erin Slade

This is a medical student project collaborating with the Kesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan (KGUMSB) since 2019. This partnership includes a mixed-methods research project to survey youth mental health perspectives, an art expression project, and the development of mental health resources for youth. The project was initially a virtual partnership through the height of the COVID pandemic, and in 2024 the team were able to conduct fieldwork in Bhutan. This included:

Conducting 27 interviews with students and experts
Expanding the student survey to more universities to capture more rural perspectives
Hosting an art expression event with the participation of around 100 KGUMSB students, who prepared over 85 art pieces including traditional dances
Hosting a mental health resource discussion with Clinical Counselling students

Nepal Sickle Cell Project in Dang province – Chris Bhatla

UBC medical students have partnered with a community-based organization, CP Nepal, since 2015 with the initial goal of increasing access to Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Screening and Diagnosis through education, training, and establishing screening labs. With funding support in 2024, the team’s accomplishments include:

Screening over 500 individuals throughout 2023-2024 for SCD. The total number of people screened since the start of this project is now around 5500
Developing and piloting culturally sensitive educational modules about SCD
Conducting community education events, including ‘forum theatres’ and training sessions for local female community health workers
Conducting a needs assessment for pain management, gathering 41 community questionnaires and input from healthcare workers
Developing and piloting a comprehensive pain education workshop for community health volunteers

Nepal Sexual and Reproductive Health Project – Lisa Nakajima

The Nepal Sexual and Reproductive Health project was launched in October 2021 and incorporates an evidence-based curriculum that includes the following topics: adolescent health, reproductive health, menstruation, pregnancy, family planning, abortion, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), gender equality, consent, sexual harassment, and child marriage.

The program is delivered by local Tharu educators and has been well-received, reaching over 800 girls, with growing interest from neighbouring communities, local governments, and schools. During 2024, the team created a Training of Trainers manual that serves as a comprehensive lesson plan to ensure standardized delivery of the curriculum.

Assessment of Practices of Assisted Vaginal Deliveries in Rwanda – Cailyn Strachan

The goal of this study was to explore obstetric care providers’ perceptions and practices towards the use of assisted vaginal deliveries (AVD) in Rwanda. The focus was on understanding how access to resources and supplies, training, and provider preferences influence the use of AVD, and how these factors may differ between rural and urban hospitals. This goal was to be accomplished through semi-structured interviews with healthcare providers (nurse-midwifes, obstetricians, general practitioners, medical interns and residents) in Rwanda. These interviews would be recorded, transcribed and analyzed thematically to identify barriers and facilitators to the use of AVD in Rwanda. The long-term goal is to inform policymakers and health practitioners about the AVD landscape in Rwanda and how to improve access to and utilization of AVD.

Explore the numbers

8 Grants

During 2024, eight more projects were approved for grants from the RGHPI.

$77,510 In Funding

In 2024, RGHPI approved 7x $10,000 and 1x $7510 in funding towards projects.

Making a Difference

By supporting rural physicians in their innovative projects and partnerships in rural communities, partners are able to further drive community engagement, reciprocal learning and sharing of ideas. This stimulates rural physicians to gain and practice new knowledge and skills. Grant recipients often reflect on how these project experiences enhance their own clinical practice and can ultimately benefit some of those most underserved in their communities.

“As a medical student, participation in this global health project has profoundly shaped my career aspirations. My passion for practicing medicine in rural and resource-limited settings has been solidified through this experience. I am grateful to the RGHPI funding that allowed this research idea to become a reality, and I am convinced that global health advocacy and research will continue to play a pivotal role in my future endeavors. I am hopeful to continue collaborating with global health partners to enhance healthcare delivery in underserved communities. ”

Cailyn Strachan, Assessment of Assisted Vaginal Deliveries in Rwanda

“One of my favourite facts that I learned during this trip is that Bhutan’s constitution mandates that at least 60% of their country should be covered by forests. Currently, over 70% of Bhutan is forest land. This speaks to how much they value their environment and their connection to nature.”

Participant in the Bhutan Youth Mental Health Resilience Project

Plans for the Future

In 2025, the grant program is inviting applications from projects with a focus on planetary and climate change health. Physicians, especially in rural communities, are the frontline dealing with the significant impacts of the wildfires, floods, and heat domes in BC that impact respiratory, cardiac, and mental health, especially for our most vulnerable populations – elders, pregnant persons, children, and those living with chronic diseases.