Meet Molli Oldenburg, UB SON's Global Initiatives Coordinator

Published September 1, 2019

Embracing a global perspective is often a result of first-hand, transformative experiences – and that is the case with Molli Oldenburg, DNP, FNP-C, clinical assistant professor and UB School of Nursing’s first global initiatives coordinator.

Oldenburg participated in her first mobile medical mission – in Haiti – nearly 20 years ago as an undergraduate nursing student. Throughout her career as a student and educator, she has participated in many mission trips around the world. Not only has she learned a great deal about diverse cultures at home and abroad, she is also keenly aware of health disparities that exist in every corner of the globe – and of the power of interprofessional collaboration in addressing those disparities.

Molli Oldenburg.

As the global initiatives coordinator, Oldenburg works to share this knowledge with nursing students.

“My goal in this role is to provide students with the opportunity to utilize their nursing knowledge and skills in a global immersion experience,” says Oldenburg. “By adopting an interprofessional approach, we can improve health equity among individuals, families, and communities, and we can educate and improve our students’ interprofessional collaborative practice skills.”

Oldenburg works closely with faculty in all of the health sciences disciplines at UB and the Office of Global Health Equity to plan global immersion experiences and to create training sessions for student participants. The group also works to forge partnerships with organizations in the areas to which they travel in order to improve the sustainability of their efforts.

The result of their programming is far reaching, instilling in students a global health perspective and enhanced educational experiences that empower them to address complex global health challenges, and to care for underserved populations worldwide.

-SARAH GOLDTHRITE