Tec students create global health convergence platform

Students from Tec de Monterrey and the TecSalud School of Medicine and Health Sciences (EMCS) have created the digital platform “Fronteras en Salud Global” (Global Health Frontiers) to address global 21st century issues through academic writing and dissemination. 

What initially began as an idea for an academic journal in which students could publish articles about global health with multidisciplinary approaches to 21st century challenges, evolved into a digital convergence platform.

Dr. Jorge Valdez, dean of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at Tecnológico de Monterrey, explains: “I saw this project take shape, and from the beginning I knew it had great potential. I pushed them to take it further, without abandoning the idea of making a journal, and I think they have done an excellent job.”

“We must advocate for places where ideas discussed by experts, using information and evidence, can be discussed, debated, and developed. The Fronteras en Salud Global platform is an example of this,” he added.

A global health convergence platform

Fronteras en Salud Global is a platform that provides a space for the creation, dissemination, discussion, and consumption of ideas by publishing articles about global health.

The platform aims to create agents of social change in the field of global health via educational programs, podcasts, news, events, webinars, and an academic journal, who will have a positive impact on their communities, so that everyone can enjoy the right to health.

Ariel García, an intern on the community service program run by the Mexico City Region EMCS and member of the platform’s operating board, explains:

“One of our main objectives is uniting student leaders interested in becoming agents of social change. We want them to know and understand that they can be agents of social change from the early stages of their careers.”

Dr. Manuel Pérez Jiménez, dean of the Monterrey Region EMCS, points out that global health is a challenge that seemed unattainable only a few years ago, but which is gradually becoming more important across the world thanks to initiatives such as this. 

“Because our students truly embrace this cause, the objectives can be met in a very efficient way. This platform marks a watershed for disseminating and developing all global health efforts in Mexico and around the world,” he said.

Committed to global and public health 

Luis Fernando González, an intern on the community service program run by the Mexico City Region EMCS and first-year student of Political Science and Public Administration at UNAM, shares that one of the objectives of the platform is to debunk the idea that global health is the same as medicine. 

“The concept of global health includes public health and international health.” He explains that global health, as its name implies, means integrating economies and countries, which brings many advantages, but also health inequality at the same time.

“More than anything, global health is about removing the barriers or borders that exist between countries, but the clearest example is the pandemic. We assume it began in China and it was all over the world within days,” he explained.

Ariel explains that public health includes all the preventative measures studied and put into practice for the general public, which are chiefly implemented by local, state, or national governments. 

One very specific example would be preventive measures for COVID-19 such as hand washing, sneezing into the crook of your arm, physical distancing, and the use of face masks.

“We want these terms to be picked up by the general public and for people to know they have a significant impact. There’s no better example of this than the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ariel.

An internationally recognized initiative 

The Fronteras en Salud Global platform was recognized at the 2021 Global Innovation Forum, hosted by the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC), as an innovative idea for virtual medical education in Latin America.

The AAHC is an academic organization that encompasses university health, including schools of medicine and health sciences, patient care operations, and research companies.

“This is a recognition of our teamwork. We’re really pleased that we’ve been able to scale the project up in such a short time and that it’s been recognized by an initiative at this level, which commits us to continue doing our best and making the project grow,” said Ariel.

“Our vision for the future is to be the leading global health platform in Latin America. Right now, there’s no integrated community like the one we’re thinking of, so we want to be the leaders and pioneers in this area,” concluded Fernando.

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