Who we are and might be: in global health, excellence demands equity

About the Author: Dr Edward O'Neil Jr earned his medical degree from George Washington University, and completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at Boston Medical Center. Dr O'Neil completed the 3-year Kellogg National Leadership Program, studying leadership, international development, and politics. In 1998, he founded the nonprofit organization Omni Med (www.omnimed.org), which focuses on health volunteerism and ethical leadership. To date, over 120 physicians have gone abroad through Omni Med's innovative, cooperatively designed programs in Belize, Guyana, and Kenya. Omni Med also compiles data on global health service opportunities, making it easier for anyone so interested to serve. Dr O'Neil is the author of 2 books published by the American Medical Association in 2006, Awakening Hippocrates: A Primer on Health, Poverty, and Global Service and A Practical Guide to Global Health Service. In 2007, Dr O'Neil was appointed Chair of a Brookings Institution Taskforce on Health Service in Sub-Saharan Africa. He is a practicing emergency physician at Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, and Adjunct Faculty at George Washington University School of Medicine.