The Global Surgery Advocacy and Policy Fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine is the first of its kind in the U.S. and is a collaborative effort between the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The fellowship is a collaborative effort that combines global surgery education resources from Baylor College of Medicine with the policy education resources at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The role supports fellows in gaining a deeper understanding of developing healthcare policies locally and globally and positions them to advocate for change.
Through the fellowship, trainees explore the field of policy, by identifying a focus area and delving into relevant legislation in Texas, the U.S. and in other countries around the world. Based on their findings, they develop recommendations and present a policy brief with the goal of improving access to care. They also develop global health diplomacy skills while engaging with governmental and non-governmental organizations. The fellow receives regular mentorship from both Baylor College of Medicine faculty as well as faculty and experts at the Baker Institute. By the end of the fellowship, the fellow presents and publishes a policy brief.
“This has been incredible as I feel I am learning a completely different language writing policy briefs,” said Katayoun Madani, Master of Science, M.D., the first fellow in this program. “Surgeons and physicians have a unique insight into what the system is lacking but to translate that into a language policy makers understand is a skillset we are never taught.” This fellowship bridges these gaps and helps the trainee learn how to communicate important issues to potentially shape law making, city planning and more.
Dr. Madani focused her first-year policy brief on trauma access across Houston. She learned how to use complex software (ArC GIS) to make maps and calculate the time traveled from different areas of Houston to a Level I or Level II Trauma Center. From her research, she created reports with suggestions for areas to develop a new trauma center. Dr. Madani shares that she learned there is no central database for city planning of the trauma system. Data exists but is housed in separate entities and it was hard to get access to patient data from individual hospitals, ambulance companies and after care facilities. In her report, she suggested the need for a system and funding to create a database to look at the trauma system from a 30,000-foot view. The same modeling methods could guide other communities worldwide.
In her second year, Dr. Madani looked at equitable academic exchanges. Academic exchange programs in global health and global surgery often involve residents from the U.S. traveling to low-resource settings. However, trainees from other countries face significant barriers to participating in educational opportunities within the U.S.
Dr. Madani notes how crucial this fellowship is in making a difference for those without access to surgical care. “For 40 years, surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, everyone in Global Surgery, has worked really hard to provide care in areas where there is none. Research has been done to create data and we have tried to raise our voices and scream the loudest that we can to be the voice for the neglected surgical patients. However, without this knowledge of how to properly advocate and speak the language of policy, we will pass another 140 years without closing this gap.”
We are recruiting for fellows for the 2026-2027 cycle, if you are interested, please email globalsurgery@bcm.edu.
