upFRONT spring 07.FINAL.rev - University of Pennsylvania School ...

students care to change the world
Helping our Neighbors in West Philadelphia and
around the World
In a recent University-wide symposium moderated by Provost Ron Daniels on the subject of
Penn’s role in facing global challenges, scholars from many disciplines debated the ways in
which the University presently engages with an international set of issues related to
education, research, policy, and practice. Initiatives as diverse as understanding the shrinking
workforce of professional nurses worldwide and its impact on health to the ways in which
economic markets drive the diffusion of new ideas were discussed. Faculty were challenged by
Provost Daniels to consider the ways in which we should be involved in the larger world and
how and in what ways, given limited resources, we can have the greatest impact. As the
discussion evolved, there were many comments related to the ethical and moral imperatives
associated with engagement, including the need for far greater cultural understanding on the
part of faculty and students about the diverse political, social, and cultural movements
reshaping countries, boundaries, identities, and possibilities. The students in the room found
the entire conversation electrifying, as it became increasingly obvious that anthropologists,
physicians, nurses, economists, and political scientists saw our global world through very
different lenses.
It is this complex set of understandings that we seek to amplify through the School of
Nursing’s commitment to global initiatives, through multiple exchange programs for faculty
and students, on-the-ground opportunities to see problems and issues firsthand in places as
diverse as Botswana and Hong Kong, to sit with scholars and students from around the
world in seminars or over a brown bag lunch. In so doing, one of the most important things
that we can communicate to students is global awareness, competence, and responsibility.
One such example of this awareness has taken shape with the Universities Allied for
Essential Medicines – a highly committed interdisciplinary group of students dedicated to
making a difference with regard to access to medicines in poor countries. Development of
drugs is often brokered by universities and pharmaceutical companies; nevertheless, the
students see the need for meeting certain reciprocal obligations to make some of these
pharmaceuticals available in countries where the economic conditions of the people or
government and infrastructure simply make availability impossible. Of special note, this
group of students presented their proposals to Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost
Daniels, and continues to work with the University Council to craft a resolution on this
complex issue. There are no easy answers, but the students are learning a lot about the
world in the process.
NEVILLE E. STRUMPF, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Edith Clemmer Steinbright Professor of Gerontology and Director
of the Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence and the Center for Gerontologic Nursing Science
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care to change the world