Dr. Ruby Dunlap, Associate Professor of Nursing, was a co-presenter at the 2012 Tennessee Global Health Forum sponsored by the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH).  Dr. Dunlap was joined by Carol Etherington and Patsy Meier, both registered nurses, to provide an overview of how healthcare is delivered in various community settings by diverse caregivers with limited resources.  The 2012 forum was focused on measuring impact and maximizing success in global programs.  It featured accomplished global health leaders who shared experiences and expertise on innovative approaches and practical tools to sustain such programs.  VIGH supports numerous community health initiatives locally and throughout the world, including current efforts in Mozambique and Nigeria.

Dr. Dunlap has taught community health nursing at Belmont since 1996.  Her involvement and interest in international healthcare has been lifelong. She spent 10 years of her childhood in Somalia.  For 15 years she has guided nursing students in the assessment and health education of refugee families resettled to the Nashville area from all over the world. In the 2009-2010 academic year, she was a Fulbright visiting lecturer for the graduate nursing program at Uganda Christian University, Mukono, Uganda. She returned to teach a four week module in the same program in September, 2011. In addition to advising nine nursing masters theses for Ugandan graduate nurses, she guided a group of the same nursing students in a revision of the Uganda Nurse and Midwives Practice Act in October, 2011.