A team of medical students and their faculty mentor from the Florida State University College of Medicine led a panel discussion at the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Family Medical Experience Conference in Washington, D.C., in October.

Titled “Connecting, Captivating and Cultivating: Engaging with the Next Generation of Global Health Professionals,” the presentation was moderated by Charles Fleisher, M.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health and director of the college’s Center on Global Health (CGH). The goal of the presentation was increasing student interest in global health issues and initiatives.

The CGH Project (CGHP) extends the college’s mission of improving the health of underserved populations to areas around the world, working in partnership with other professions and institutions. For the past several years, the partners have worked with communities in rural Honduras “through sustainable interventions that are not only culturally sensitive, but also desired by the communities we work with,” said Michelle Flohr, a fourth-year medical student at the Sarasota Regional Campus and CGHP senior research manager.

Other students who presented were Elora Friar, also a fourth-year student at the Sarasota campus, and Sean Gabany and Michael Hong, both second-year students.

Two other students contributed to the presentation but were unable to attend: Genevieve Patrick, a third-year student at the Tallahassee Regional Campus, and Analise Dilorio, a third-year student at the Daytona Beach Regional Campus.