Dartmouth Students Attend the Unite for Sight Global Health and Social Innovation Conference

We feel so fortunate to have been able to attend the Unite for Sight Global Health and Social Innovation Conference at Yale this April. The conference featured renowned keynote speakers such as Jeffrey Sachs, Seth Godin, Michael Moss, and others. A great part about the conference was that it wasn’t just lectures on health topics, but it included workshop sessions throughout the afternoon that allowed you to meet other people in the field, listen to social entrepreneurship business pitches, and attend brief presentations on a variety of health topics.

It was so motivating for us to be exposed to the many fields of global health from maternal and child health, to water and the environment, to infectious disease and more. We were exposed to health issues that we would not have encountered in our coursework at Dartmouth, even as Biology and International Studies students. Then at an evening reception on Saturday night, we networked with other students and professionals in the health field, both from the clinical side and from public health and development. Overall, we learned that there is no defining topic in a field so broad as global health, and that there are so many opportunities to learn more about current initiatives that young people are taking on to make things better for the world. We certainly left the conference excited to share what we learned with our peers and motivated to focus on pursuing global health and social innovation in some aspect of our future careers.

One of the most rewarding things about the conference was that they highlighted how far we have come in the field of global health. The Millennium Development Goals were an important topic that came up in keynote addresses and breakout sessions. So many countries are on track to meet their goals, but the speakers reminded us how much there is still left to do. The innovation and creativity in ideas and solutions to various issues prove that there is a bright future in this field, and we are so excited to bring this knowledge to campus. Students like us were presenting and pitching ideas, proving how we are not "just students" but the future. Getting people excited about global health, and what we can do here at Dartmouth can make real change around the world and in our own Dartmouth communities.

We went into the conference somewhat unsure of what to expect and left feeling undeniably inspired. The energy of the attendees, students and professionals alike, was contagious, and it was refreshing to meet an array of people who cared so strongly about making lives better across the globe. Thanks to the Unite for Sight Global Health & Innovation Conference, we are feeling passionate and optimistic, confident yet humble, and overall ready to apply the practical lessons we learned at the conference to our remaining studies at Dartmouth and beyond!

--Julia Roper '15, Brian McGahie '15, Steven Chen '15, Chileta Dim '17 and Carly Carlin '15