George Agyapong
George grew up in Ghana, where he studied Pharmacy at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi. He moved to the U.S. after his undergraduate education, obtaining a Master’s in Biological Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) and crafting a non-traditional path toward a career in medicine. George’s interest in tropical medicine grew out of his formative experiences with the burden of disease and poverty in Ghana. Currently a fourth-year medical student at Harvard Medical School (HMS), George remains engaged with underserved communities in Boston through service-learning initiatives. He currently serves as Principal Innovator for a student project, helping to pilot an initiative to provide tailored nutrition information and support for families within the early intervention program at The Dimock Center in Boston. George is also exploring opportunities to understand innovative models of healthcare delivery in underserved communities here and abroad. Recently selected as a 2018 National Medical Fellowships’ Primary Care Leadership Program (PCLP) Scholar, he is gaining clinical and leadership experience within community health centers at the frontline of the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts. He hopes to pursue a career that harnesses such opportunities—as a clinician, educator, and community leader—to promote and sustain initiatives that benefit the underserved.
Project: "Global health lessons from Malawi's Option B+ program: towards resilient health systems in the tropics"
7/15/2018 - 9/07/2018
Malawi
What does the Kean Fellowship mean to you?
It is an honor to be select among a cohort of talented individuals who have committed themselves to learning about tropical medicine toward addressing the challenges therein. The Kean Fellowship affords me the opportunity to experience healthcare in communities that otherwise differ from the ones I grew up or trained in. This opportunity will inform my future career as I seek to contribute to the mission of the ASTMH.
What do you anticipate learning?
Malawi has made significant strides against the HIV menace as the first low-income country to initiate and adopt a policy (Option B+) that expanded lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) to all pregnant and breastfeeding women with HIV and, recently, to all HIV patients through its universal access policy. Recognized by the international community, Malawi’s Option B+ policy reflect an aggressive drive toward curbing the HIV epidemic, providing another landmark policy in the HIV narrative. Key lessons and principles of global health delivery can be illustrated in initiatives like option B+ and universal coverage, particularly by examining the political, social and economic context, the key stakeholders and decision makers, and the means by which change was implemented. My project aims to explore these contexts for a case study. I will prepare a teaching module to support global health delivery education at the University of Malawi College of Medicine (COM) and beyond. Case studies such as this will contribute toward building resilient and responsive health systems in resource limited settings. As I pursue a career that combines clinical expertise with healthcare innovation, this experience will teach me about creative models of care delivery in underserved communities. The lessons I learn will form a foundation upon which I can pursue additional training in healthcare policy and global health delivery.
What interests you about tropical medicine and what problems are you interested in solving?
Tropical medicine explores the full spectrum of diseases most endemic in areas where poverty and inequity intersect. I started medical school aware that the practice of medicine in Ghana, where I grew up, was limited by its economic and social challenges. Yet, I was also aware of the rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, in many developing countries. In addition to clinical expertise in these diseases, tropical medicine demands great awareness and respect for the culture of affected communities, building strong partnerships with communities to address their unmet needs. My long-term goal is to harness these skills—as a clinician, educator and researcher—to support innovative models of healthcare delivery in places like Ghana.