OHSU is improving health on a global scale. We do so through education, research and clinical initiatives. We partner with public and private institutions as well as programs around the world.

Vision

Be a global platform for OHSU to achieve its vision for healing, teaching, and discovery.

Guiding principles

• Meeting local priorities
• Building capacity and teaching
• Establishing sustainability and funding

Scholarships for OHSU medical student placements in Southeast and South Asia

Each year, the Kathryn Robertson Endowment provides learning and research opportunities for OHSU students. It allows learners and educators to exchange ideas, to work on local priorities and to improve global health.

Three are four approved elective experiences available to students. Partner institutions help us provide these experiences.

1. Four-week clinical rotation at Faculty of Siriraj of Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand.
2. Four-week cross border health course at Mae Fah Luang University in Chiang Rai, Thailand.
3. Four-week field public health field field UN Sustainable Development Goal research based experience in east Africa or southeast Asia in partnership with faculty from OHSU, the University of Western Australia and the Tsuha Foundation.
4. For students keen on a research career, there are opportunities to work with OHSU faculty on communicable and non-communicable disease research projects together with Faculty of Siriraj of Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand.

Appropriate overseas experiences include projects related to public and population health, health education, clinical practice and research.  OHSU students in good academic standing can apply for competitive awards up to $2,000.  Students will spend at least three weeks at their overseas site. Exceptions to this requirement will be made on a case-by-case basis.  Awards are made during the academic year and are subject to available funding. 

Research opportunities in Southeast Asia

Oregon Health & Science University partners with Siriraj Medical School at Mahidol University to help both institutions expand learning and clinical capacity.  Both institutions share research salary support to investigate innovative approaches for the prevention and treatment of HIV, TB, Zika Virus and Dengue Fever.

This initiative includes hiring researchers to work between both institutions. Therefore, OHSU has access to colleagues who work at the forefront in these fields. OHSU can also use shared clinical specimens for research efforts in Oregon. Thai researchers benefit from access to learning from innovators at OHSU. They receive support with grant opportunities from US based donors and the National Institutes of Health.

The initiative seeks grant funding to make this research collaboration more robust and inclusive over time. We will invite students to support these ongoing research collaborations when appropriate.

Partner institutions

OHSU partners with three universities in two different countries.

Mahidol University

In 2015, OHSU Global partnered with a leading University in Bangkok, Thailand, Mahidol University. The partnership focuses on a robust exchange in educational and research. As part of this collaboration, OHSU has hosted students from across schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry and public health from Thailand. In exchange, the Faculties of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital host clinical experiences for OHSU students in Thailand.

This global health immersion experience exposes OHSU students to factors contributing to health and disease through experiential clinical learning in Southeast Asia. Students have the opportunity to both expand and refine their clinical skills. They also may expand research skills in diverse clinical settings. They will face the burdens of disease, resources, diagnostic algorithms, treatment algorithms and health systems that differ widely from a US medical setting.

Mae Fah Luang University (MFU)

Mae Fah Luang University (MFU) is a twenty-year-old public and comprehensive University located in Chiang Rai of northern Thailand. This university provides a rural site experience for faculty, residents and students from all schools. All participants experience cross border medicine and tropical diseases in patients from Myanmar, rural Thailand, northern Laos, China and Cambodia.

MFU also:

• conducts patient care in English
• has ample housing for visitors
• needs to build capacity in primary care and other basic science research areas
• provides a beautiful and safe learning site

The University of Western Australia (UWA)

The University of Western Australia (UWA) in Perth is a top 100 university in the world.  Established in 1911, this public research university is the sixth oldest university in Australia. It has produced over 100 Rhodes scholars as well as two Nobel laureates.   UWA is an ideal partner as it brings with it a capacity for rotations for our Southeast Asian partners. It also allows for expanded learning opportunities for OHSU students to join UWA and their Tsuha Foundation supported Tsuha Global Fellowship where OHSU medial students work along professionals in low- and middle-income countries to tackle the UN Sustainable Development Goals.   Examples of active or recent projects include improving health through establishing guidelines which reduce antimicrobial resistance in South Africa, establishing a path for palliative care in Bhutan and addressing food insecurity in northern Thailand. 

Annual Kathryn Robertson Memorial Lecture in Global Health (KRL)

The annual Kathryn Robertson Memorial Lecture features a world-renown expert addressing an issue of global significance.

• 2025 Dr. Joanne Liu, Past President International Doctors Without Borders
• 2023 Barry James Marshall, Nobel Laureate, Medicine: Man vs. Helicobacter
• 2019 Senator Mechai Viravaidya: The land of smiles and condoms
• 2018 Eric Goosby: TB-Tackling the world's leading infectious disease killer
• 2017 Kent Brantley: Fighting Ebola: Choosing Compassion over fear
• 2016 Mark Rosenberg: reducing gun violence through science and collaboration
• 2015 Nicholas Kristof: Pathways to becoming a global citizen
• 2014 Harvey Fineberg: US Health in International Perspective
• 2013 Howard Frumkin: Climate Change: Grand Challenge for Global Health
• 2012 Robert Schooley: Antiretroviral treatment in HIV-infected individuals
• 2011 Anne Marie Slaughter: The Health of our World