More Than “First Do No Harm”: Modeling Global Engagement with the U-M/Ghana Partnership

Timothy R.B. Johnson, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s & Gender Studies

Thursday, October 19, 2023; 7:00 pm

In 1986, Tim Johnson, then chair of obstetrics and gynecology in the U-M Medical School, traveled to Ghana as part of an initial group of Americans to reestablish relationships in medicine. The experience transformed him. Confronted with a shockingly high rate of maternal deaths that could have been prevented in the United States, Dr. Johnson launched a partnership with Ghanaian institutions for training Ob/Gyn health workers — an unusual and singularly successful partnership, between U-M and Ghana, that continues to this day. The Ob/Gyn partnership led to further collaborations between U-M and Ghana, in other medical fields and beyond, including the social sciences and humanities. We are very excited to host this session with Dr. Johnson in connection with his new book on the partnership, More Than “First Do No Harm,” which demonstrates that the partnership serves as vital model for global health collaborations.

Timothy Johnson MD is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s & Gender Studies at the University of Michigan where he was Bates Professor of the Diseases of Women and Children and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for twenty-four years. He is a high- risk obstetrician, and his research interests are fetal behavior, prenatal care, medical education and capacity building for health, global women’s health, global health ethics, and assessment and prevention of sexual harassment in academic medicine. He is active in international teaching and training. In 2022 he received the (UM) President’s Award for Distinguished Service in International Education. He has authored over 300 articles, chapters and books, and is an elected member of the (US) National Academy of Medicine.

For those attending in person, the event will be followed by tours of the Observatory, with observing if weather permits.

If you’d like to attend this event in-person, registration can be found here

If you’d like to attend this event virtually, registration can be found here