13th Annual Global Health Initiative Symposium: Silent Auction & Global Food Tasting

Friday, May 4, 2018, 5 pm to 8 pm
Campus: 
Dayton
White Hall Atrium and Gandhi Auditorium
Audience: 
The public

Special Guest: Roger Pacholka, M.D., '85

General Admission: $50
Students: $20

Roger Pacholka, M.D., is a proud graduate of Wright State University. He flunked out of college in 1971 but received a second chance from Wright State. Pacholka received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1980, a Doctor of Medicine in 1985 and graduated from Wright State’s Emergency Medicine Residency Program in 1988. Dr. Pacholka now leads medical students, residents, attending physicians and other health care professionals serving the poor in Southern Africa. As a medical student, he developed a two-month global health rotation in Swaziland, Africa, becoming the first of hundreds of Wright State students to work in the area. He serves as the medical director and U.S. board chairperson for Mercy Air South Africa, a nonprofit missionary aviation organization that provides humanitarian, medical, educational and agricultural programs throughout Southern Africa. At this year’s Academy of Medicine dinner, the comedian-turned-doctor will share stories of his work in Africa and his journey since medical school.

This annual event brings distinguished speakers to share their perspectives on international health issues and raises funds to assist medical students in traveling to underdeveloped countries. Most of the money raised goes to fourth-year students in the medical school’s International Education Program, who are required to complete a rotation abroad. Participation in national and international medical aid, research and cultural experiences helps these future doctors gain a better understanding of the global nature of medicine and public health.

First-year medical students at the Boonshoft School of Medicine founded the Global Health Initiative in 2000. The initiative’s mission is to enhance the education of Wright State medical students by facilitating their exposure to both the medical issues facing people in other countries and the medical issues of people in this country who have immigrated and, in so doing, inspire greater compassion, social justice and empathy within future physicians.

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