Trinity’s Study Abroad programs and International Studies department have joined to host “Symposium: Perspectives on Global Health”on Sept. 14 and 15 in the Chapman Center and will include over fine speakers from the field as well as open discussions and a banquet..

“The purpose [of the symposium] is to put current Trinity students together with alumni who are active in the field of global health, and to inform undergraduates of the dimensions of that field what the possibilities are as a career and what are the problems that are grappled with, for example, malaria in Africa or AIDS in Haiti and the challenges of training young women for leadership, which will be very important in years to come,” said Dr. Nanette LeCoat, associate professor of modern language and literature.

The symposium, while meant to be informative, will also feature many guests speakers and possibly provide students interested in global health with internships, study abroad and even future career opportunities.

“We see it as a real networking opportunity “¦ we realized that there were all these terrific people who had graduated from Trinity who were out now working for the State Department, working for the U.N., working as medical doctors and we thought what a great idea it would be if we could bring many of these people to campus and have them speak to students about their work in the field,” LeCoat said.

Many students interested in health will learn of other career opportunities outside of strictly medicine. The student will also expand his or her knowledge base on how to enter a career in global health.

“There are a lot of students who are interested in global health but feel they don’t have quite the profile to pursue a career in medicine, and the purpose of this conference is to show them that there are all sorts of ways to be involved and a diverse knowledge base which they will need to call on “¦ including a push for foreign languages. We see it as an exciting opportunity to see some career options,” LeCoat said.