Doing Global Health Work
Kirk Scirto | 2022Hesperian Health Guides
$19.95
Kirk Scirto draws upon his extensive experience on 4 continents and a broad array of research to examine the pitfalls of traditional approaches ("suitcase" medicine, clinic building) and the benefits of empowering approaches (training, system strengthening, and more) to global health work. Full of stories illustrating what really works in the struggle for health justice.
Many health professionals go the extra mile to bring their skills to formerly colonized countries where health inequities are typically even more alarming than at home. Marshalling his own extensive experience and enormous amount of research, Kirk Scirto examines the pitfalls of traditional approaches ("suitcase" medicine, clinic building) and the benefits of empowering approaches (training, system strengthening, and more) to global health work. Sparkling with anecdotes of inspired communities expanding their access to and control over health, this practical, engaging book breaks new ground by guiding health and development professionals and students away from less helpful agendas and toward sustainable, evidence-based approaches to global health work.
Dr. Scirto was a guest on the One Health Trust podcast with Maggie Fox!
Listen to the 15-minute episode to learn about Doing Global Health Work from the author himself.
Are you a global health educator interested in using Doing Global Health Work with your students? Check out this free discussion guide developed by Kirk Scirto and Rosie Piller that provides questions to aid reflection and recall!
View Sample Pages
Table of Contents and Introduction (PDF)About the Author
Kirk Scirto received his medical doctorate at the University of Buffalo and completed his family medicine residency at the University of Rochester. He obtained a master's degree in global public health from the University of South Florida, HIV specialist certification from AAHIVM, and tropical medicine certification from ASTMH. His global health work has allowed him to contribute to and lead a variety of initiatives over 23 years in 11 resource-limited nations. He serves as a professor of global health in the United States and abroad, and currently works as the clinician serving the Tonawanda Seneca Nation.
Praise for Doing Global Health Work
"...A deeply passionate, highly informative, very practical yet also intensely commited book; it is an excellent guide for engaging in health work beyond one's national borders.”— from the Foreward by Abhay Shukla, MD
"Kirk Scirto's book provides a great text reinforcing appropriate guidance and program frameworks that explicitly tear down colonial approaches to global health work, helping [professionals, students, and trainees] both learn from and contribute to their host communities."
— from the Afterword by Robin Young, MA and Jessica Evert, MD
