Photo for A Unique Program in Southern Africa: The UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine Partnership in Mozambique
Dr. Buck with visiting UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine students (Karen Ramos and Gabriel Mendoza) and Mozambican residents (Luisa Lambo and Aneslmo Lisboa) on the wards at Hospital Central de Maputo.

A Unique Program in Southern Africa: The UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine Partnership in Mozambique

Associate Professor of Pediatrics Dr. Chris Buck serves as in-country partner lead of the David Geffen School of Medicine Global Health Program Mozambique Partnership, overseeing educational exchange programs and clinical research activities in the country’s capital city Maputo.
Based in Mozambique, the David Geffen School of Medicine Global Health Program Mozambique Partnership was initiated in 2008 to advance pediatric medical education in the Southern African country. At that time, there were very few pediatricians working in the country’s public health sector, and UCLA began supporting the training of Mozambican pediatricians. Since then, the partnership has increased these numbers and expanded to include other major pursuits, such as the hosting of UCLA medical students and residents for clinical rotations in the Pediatrics Department of Hospital Central de Maputo. The partnership also offers training opportunities at Pontifícia Universidade Católica Rio Grande do Sul, a Brazilian medical school, for Mozambican learners who don’t speak English. Currently led by Dr. Chris Buck, the partnership has not only a local impact but also one on a global scale. Exchange activities equip Mozambican, Brazilian, and American healthcare professionals with newA health mural on the wall outside of Hospital Central de Maputo. (Photo: Chloe Kim). perspectives and skills, many of which are applied when participants travel to practice medicine abroad. This experience is supplemented with the program’s ongoing activities in clinical research, pursued in collaboration with local Mozambican partners. Furthermore, the program provides CDC-funded technical assistance work to the Mozambican Ministry of Health, in particular to improve prevention and treatment of infants, children and adolescents with advanced HIV disease. In January of 2023, Dr. Buck will host two third-year medical students from UCLA for their Discovery research experience as part of a new medical school curriculum.

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