Risa Farrell: Protecting and Empowering Migrant Mothers

Farrell responding to the question: What global health issue concerns you most?

The clinics were overcrowded and there were lines of refugees waiting hours just for a few moments with a doctor. Risa Farrell, a UC San Diego undergraduate at the time, was volunteering at a United Nations Refugee Camp in Amman, Jordan. Witnessing the scope of poverty and the shortage of medical resources left her feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. A local doctor, sensing her distress, helped realign her perspective. “There’s no way you can solve all of their problems; if you can make one person’s life easier or pain less, you’ve done your job.” The experience stands out in her mind as the moment when she decided to dedicate herself to serving migrant populations.

Farrell graduated from UC San Diego this past spring with a B.A. in global health and social justice, an interdisciplinary major she proposed and gained approval for during her third year. Her proposal shares many parallels with the new major in global health that debuted this fall, developed around the same time by Thomas Csordas and Janis Jenkins, UC San Diego professors of anthropology, making her essentially the program’s first graduate. The new program encompasses a wide range of topics from anthropology of medicine to politics of food and human rights.

“I didn’t know that global health existed until I came to UC San Diego,” said Farrell, who transferred in 2011 as an international studies major with three minors, including human rights, international migration and global health—at the time only offered as a minor. “The new major is unique in that it allows you to customize your studies based on your passions. By complementing classwork with practical experience in the field – which is absolutely imperative – you gain a richer perspective.”

Farrell’s first inclination was to pursue medical school, but she decided that instead of becoming a doctor she wanted to tackle the underlying social determinants that contribute to disease: displacement, for example, and conflict. The decision was prompted by a church mission to Jamaica in the winter of 2010. At the time a pre-med student eager to pursue a career in surgery, Farrell spent 10 hours a day in small, dusty clinics across the island, treating those affected by malnutrition, diabetes and infection.

“As I held infants burning with fever, I became deeply aware of how truly desperate the need for medical treatment is in countries such as Jamaica, yet became frustrated with the inherently temporary nature of medical aid,” said Farrell. “I returned from Jamaica with a burning passion for illness prevention and devoted myself to a new focus in global public health.”

A core feature of the global health program is the requirement for students to conduct 100 hours of research or volunteer work at a clinical site in the U.S. or abroad. Students learn through direct personal experience about the impacts of health inequity, climate change, political conflict and other issues that affect global health.

“UC San Diego’s Global Health Program is truly interdisciplinary,” said Csordas, chair of the anthropology department and program director. It brings together coursework and faculty from across the university, he said, spanning “the continuum of approaches to health: medical social sciences, biological sciences, health policy and planning, epidemiology, global social processes and medical humanities.”

Farrell volunteering at a United Nations Refugee Camp in Amman, Jordan.

Drawing from classwork and field experience, graduating seniors will develop a thesis and present to peers and professionals from UC San Diego and local universities at the Horizons of Global Health Conference. Held each spring, the conference features a keynote address from a leading researcher in the field as well as poster presentations from undergraduates.

Farrell conducted her capstone research in Tlacuitapa and Jalisco, Mexico as part of the Mexican Migration Field Research Program, organized by the UC San Diego Center for Comparative Immigration Studies. Together with an interdisciplinary team of students and professors from both countries, Farrell investigated how the sexual health of non-migrant women – such as the sisters, wives and girlfriends of migrant men – is impacted by border policy. The year-long project included surveying women from underserved communities in Mexico and combining data from satellite research centers in Oklahoma and the Bay area. The team’s field research findings were published in a collaborative bilingual volume.

Today, Farrell continues to work with refugee women as a volunteer at the UC San Diego Hillcrest Medical Center. She serves as a doula, a non-medical birthing assistant, where she helps women in labor to feel more at ease.

“I see women who are afraid and not familiar with the health system here or struggling with language barriers,” said Farrell. “I serve as a liaison between mothers and family members, providing emotional support and assuring safety during delivery.”

Farrell is in the process of applying to a master’s program in public or global health in preparation for a career dedicated to protecting and empowering displaced mothers around the world. In the meantime she is working at a local non-profit and serving as a short-term UC San Diego Regional Admissions Officer, traveling to the Midwest to speak with prospective students.

“When talking to prospective students, I tell them to be brave and follow their passions, even if they don’t have all of the answers,” said Farrell. “It is by diving into different experiences and contexts that you discover what your true path is, and UC San Diego is a great place to do that.”