How do international health electives impact medical students in their long term career paths?

: 2.055_HRW How do international health electives impact medical students in their long term career paths? L. Buckvar-Keltz, E. Robinson, C. Gillespie, M. Hopkins; The Office of Student Affairs, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA, Global Health Initiatives, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA, Division of Education Quality, Institute for Innovations in Medical Education, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA Program/Project Purpose: The New York University School of Medicine (NYUSOM) has been engaging medical students in global health across their years in medical school through its’ International Health Program (IHP) since 2002. All students in good academic standing are supported to participate in culturally meaningful and socially relevant research in any location that meets US State Department safe travel advisories. Students can also participate in self-funded clinical rotations. The program aims to increase the cultural competency of medical graduates as they enter the workforce to serve an increasingly diverse patient population. Our assumption was that IHP participants would have increased cultural competency, increased engagement with underserved populations, and increased incorporation of global health in their career paths. Structure/Method/Design: To understand the impact of this program we conducted a simple cross-sectional cohort study of graduates of the program from 2002 to 2012. Survey questions included demographic data as well as subjective impact of the IHP program on their residency and career choices. Outcome & Evaluation: We received 49 responses out of 213 surveys distributed by email to past participants of the IHP. Analysis of the data showed that international experiences later in medical school, rather than earlier, had a higher impact on career plans (mean of 2.70 verses mean of 2.00). Moreover, electives with both research and clinical components positively impacted career plans. Clinical rotations appeared to have slightly more impact on cultural competency than research rotations (mean of 3.82 verses mean of 3.39). Students who had not studied abroad previously (n 1⁄4 24) reported that IHP had a greater impact on cultural competence, commitment to global health, and commitment to caring for the under-served than those who had previously studied abroad (n 1⁄4 24). Going Forward: International heath experiences for medical students appear to have a significant impact on career paths as well as improving cultural competency. These findings can potentially benefit human resources for health by increasing US graduates long-term engagement in global public health and for working with underserved populations. We feel there is also strong argument for supporting first time international experiences for medical students. Funding: Office of Student Affairs at the NYU School ofMedicine. Abstract #: 2.056_HRW: 2.056_HRW Community Health Clubs for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) improvement in Rural Burkina Faso M. Niaone, S. Bendjemil, J. Rosenfeld, R. Berggren; The Centre Muraz, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, West Africa, The Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA Purpose: Only 6.7% of Burkina Faso’s people have access to improved sanitation. Risk for food, vector or waterborne disease is high: diarrhea, malaria, and helminths remain preventable causes of mortality and poverty. In December 2014 we piloted Community Health Clubs for WASH behavior change in a village of 2000. The aims of this project are to: 1. Improve WASH-related knowledge and behaviors; 2. Prevent WASH-related diseases; 3. Create enduring community-based social structures with capacity to sustain health gains and nurture sustainable development. Design: A knowledge and practices survey of 70 randomly selected family compounds was conducted before project implementation. Village leaders identified candidate facilitators from the community. We trained 19 facilitators in a picture-based WASH curriculum