Global Obstetrics & Gynecology Program
The U-M Medical School Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Global Obstetrics & Gynecology Program is committed to sustainable and bidirectional global initiatives that build capacity in collaborative research, medical education, and equitable health care delivery.
We are a transdisciplinary group committed to sustainable and bidirectional global initiatives that build capacity in collaborative research, medical education, and equitable health care delivery. We conduct research across women’s health, pediatrics, public health, learning health sciences, and engineering.
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Global Trainee Exchange Benefits
Trainee Educational Opportunities
Obstetrics & Gynecology Global Health Resident Track
The longitudinal Global Women’s Health Track is embedded within the four-year OBGYN residency and is open to all interested OBGYN residents. The track nurtures physician-leaders with experience in global health, research, advocacy, and cross-cultural clinical care.
Residents are matched with global women’s health faculty mentors who support their participation in track activities, including formal didactics through a Global Health Certificate, a scholarly project, a Global Health Elective Rotation during the third year, journal club, and a departmental presentation focused on a global health equity topic.
Global Women’s Health Fellowship
The two-year Global Women’s Health Advanced Training Program helps advanced OBGYN trainees identify their paths as future leaders in global women’s health research and provides resources to support their success.
Global Trainee Exchanges
U-M Medical School Trainees
During their third year, OBGYN residents may complete a one-month international elective in Ghana focused on clinical care and/or research.
OBGYN subspecialty fellows can work with faculty from U-M Medical School and Ghana to develop an interest-specific subspecialty elective experience in Ghana. Internships and electives in Ghana are also available to medical students, undergraduates, master’s students, and doctoral students.
International Trainees
We host Ghanaian and Rwandan OBGYN fellows from partner academic hospitals in our department for one-month clinical observerships.
Visiting fellows participate in subspecialty and departmental didactics, clinical decision-making, patient care experiences, systems-based learning, and simulation.
My trip to Ghana was a formative experience that gave me firsthand insight into the challenges and rewards of practicing medicine in a lower-resource setting. It deepened my commitment to pursuing long-term global health work by strengthening my adaptability, sharpening my clinical judgment, and reinforcing the importance of sustainable, context-sensitive care in resource-limited environments.
Current Projects & Partnerships
Our more than 40-year partnership with Ghana OBGYN is grounded in the incredible life and legacy of former chair Dr. Timothy R.B. Johnson. His commitment to global health education, international capacity-building, and bidirectional collaboration has shaped the culture of our OBGYN department.
His impact on women’s health has reached across the globe — to trainees, health care professionals, leaders, and patients. His legacy will live on as we challenge ourselves to “think big,” “say yes,” and remain dedicated to partnership and equity.
The Schweitzer Michi-Ghana Student Research Grant was established in 2022 between the Family Health Medical School in Accra, Ghana, and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at U-M Medical School, with the generous support of Elaine Schweitzer.
These research grants support Ghanaian student-initiated research projects focused on maternal and/or child health. Students range from first-year to senior status and represent the fields of medicine, nursing, and midwifery.
The CIRHT-UM works with medical schools to integrate hands-on clinical training in comprehensive reproductive health care, including family planning and safe abortion.
This collaboration with the our department builds OBGYN medical education capacity across Rwanda, with a focus on supporting new:
- OBGYN residencies
- Maternal Fetal Medicine fellowship
- Gynecology Oncology fellowship
Key areas of focus include faculty development, teaching advanced clinical and surgical skills, electives hosted at Michigan for Rwandan trainees, capacity-building visits hosted at Michigan for Rwandan faculty, medical simulation, and research capacity support for fellows.
Faculty partners include John Randolph, MD, Emma Lawrence, MD, MSc, Shitanshu Uppal, MD, MBA, Sarah Bell, MD, Mark Chames, MD, Jason Bell, MD, MPH, MS, Dave Marzano, MD, Anita Malone, MD, MPH, Dhanu Thiayag, MD, MPH, Luyun Chen, PhD, and Yolanda Smith. MD.
Global Health Research Expertise
Our faculty bring expertise in reproductive justice, maternal and neonatal health, medical education, medical devices, health systems, and subspecialty care.
- Sarah Compton, PhD, MPH, focuses broadly on women’s reproductive justice, contraception autonomy, and health outcomes.
- Emma Lawrence, MD, MSc, focuses on optimizing maternal and neonatal health outcomes in high-risk pregnancies in low-resource settings, with a focus on patient-performed home monitoring and preeclampsia management in Ghana.
- Cheryl Moyer, PhD, MPH, focuses on social and cultural factors that impact maternal, newborn, infant, and child morbidity and mortality in low-resource settings.
- Dhanu Thiyag, MD, MPH, focuses on integrating engineering and medicine to design and clinically evaluate medical devices and medical education simulation programming, specifically to advance global women’s health equity.
- Erica Marsh, MD, MSCI, focuses on fibroids, community-based participatory research, healthcare disparities, and OBGYN trainee research capacity in Ghana.
Program Leadership
Emma R Lawrence, MD, MSc
Global Women's Health Fellowship
Clinical Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Medical School
Dhanalakshmi (Dhanu) Thiyagarajan (Thiyag), MD, MPH
Global Women's Health Fellowship And Clinical Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Medical School
Roxanne Harfmann
Becky Hurd
Featured News & Stories
2026 Global Health Annual Update
2025 Global Health Annual Update
Medical School well-represented among Strategic Initiative Fund’s first recipients
Learning about the Life Loaf: My Experience Working in OBGYN Research
