Minneapolis, MN — Dziwe Willard Ntaba has learned firsthand, as a physician working in global health and emergency medicine, the profound impact of dignity and respect in health care. As a young physician opening a clinic in Burundi, he experienced how respect towards and among communities helped transform an impoverished village into a premier public health center. While leading teams of Ebola emergency responders in Liberia, he saw how dignified treatment towards communities was essential to ending that complex public health crisis. Now, in his work at the University of Minnesota Medical School, he is working to better understand how historical mistreatment, trauma and patient experience can lead to poor health outcomes. He seeks to bring perspectives from his global experiences to improve health care in the U.S. To advance his vision, he will pursue the knowledge and tools to build networks to advance equitable health care solutions centered on dignity and respect.
