For the 51^st Find-Your-Role-Model session, we invited Dr. Sayori Kobayashi, medical officer at the Research Institute of Tuberculosis. During the session, she shared her career trajectory, which included working at the WHO and MSF, and described two different paths for those who want to become involved in global heath.

The first type is in the field as a healthcare provider. Dr. Kobayashi stayed that in low-income countries such as Kenya, Sudan and Pakistan it is no secret that medical care is not as accessible as in high-income countries. Therefore, the first step is to create a better environment. For example, Dr. Kobayashi mentioned the importance of mosquito nets. This is a very simple but significant item since many serious infectious diseases can be prevented by their use. From this example, we were able to learn that those who go to work in low-income countries need to care about not only medicine itself but also the environment that supports the healthcare system. However, since social problems are interconnected, we cannot save a whole country just by improving the environment of one hospital. This connects to the importance of the second type of workplace related to global health.

The second type is the international health organizations that lead global heath. The WHO is a good example. In such places, experts from various fields including medicine and dentistry gather and analyze data collected and discuss solutions. The biggest advantage of this kind of workplace is the fact that healthcare officers there can tackle problems around the world. Therefore, it is possible for them to bring drastic changes. However, Dr. Kobayashi mentioned that the inability to acquire up-to-date information from the field is a drawback that cannot be ignored.

As you can see from the comparison of these two different types of approaches to global heath, healthcare providers who wish to be involved in this career in the future must be flexible and develop their own way of participating.