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children being asked health questions in Nicaragua

  1. Alliances for Global Health Education: Learning from South/South Collaborations-19th Annual GHEC Conference

    4/9/2010 8:00:00 AM

    1st Latin American and Caribbean Global Health Meeting &
    19th Annual GHEC Conference

     

    Alliances for Global Health Education: Learning from South-South Collaboration. Strengthening the Commitment

     

    Hosted by: The National Institute of Public Health of Mexico

    Dates: 9-11 April 2010

    Location: Cuernavaca, Mexico

     

    The recent events surrounding the outbreak of the new Influenza A H1N1 virus exemplify the vital role that cross-country and regional co-operation play in ensuring global health.   Recent years have seen a renewed effort at regional collaboration.  Additionally, the shape of these collaborations is changing from traditional North-South collaborations, characterized by the one-way transfer of technological and financial resources from developed to developing countries, to a theoretically flatter and dynamic regional collaboration, especially among ‘”southern” (or developing) countries. The numerous examples of these new regional networks include:

    • Ibero-American Ministerial Network for Health Research and Education (RIMAIS)
    • Mesoamerican Institute of Public Health
    • Brazil - African lusophone countries health collaboration
      • Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe
    • Andean Integration System
      • Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador y Peru
    • South Cone Network for Health Systems and Services Research
      • Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina
    • Amazonian Cooperation Treaty Organization
      • Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname

     

     

    This conference will capitalize on the INSP’s strategic location linking Anglophone North American countries and the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean to bring together faculty and students from institutions throughout the Americas to share experiences of creating and fostering alliances for global health education.  This 2010 conference will also serve as the 1st Latin American and Caribbean Global Health Conference, which has the aim of further fostering the discourse related to global health. 

     

    To fulfill the mandate of this initiative, the conference aims to develop a program which reflects the vibrancy and variety of Global Health programs throughout the region, while highlighting the South-South experience in fostering new collaborative mechanisms, using the lessons learned from the emerging pandemic as well as other case studies in the areas of other infectious diseases, maternal health, vaccine-preventable disease, and nutrition (from both perspectives of malnutrition and the growing epidemic of obesity and chronic health problems). This Conference will analyze how South-South  collaborations differ from traditional North-South alliances, examine successes and obstacles to effective functioning of these collaborations and cull lessons that can be learned and adopted by the North. 

     

    The themes that we plan to address in this 2010 conference include:

     

    • The role of institutional alliances in advancing global health education
    • Changing the paradigm of regional cooperation: Are South-South collaborations more horizontal?
    • Ethics and equity issues of collaborations for global health education
    • The advantages and challenges of multi-cultural and cross-cultural collaborations
    • Northern and Southern perspectives on Global Health: arriving at a consensus
    • Development of Global Health competencies: defining the optimal skill set
    • Macroeconomic policies, economic crises and health workforce education: how to feed the demand of developed and developing countries for skilled health care workers
    • Interdisciplinary approaches to global health education: beyond the traditional medical model
    • Content and orientation of global health curricula: regional perspectives

     

    The conference planning committee will particularly seek out abstracts and presentations that address the following cross-cutting issues:

    • Human displacement: migrants, refugees and human trafficking
    • The “Triple Challenge” of epidemiological transition:  infectious disease, chronic disease and accidents and violence
    • Non-communicable and chronic diseases: perspectives from the South and North

  2. Global Health & Innovation Summit at Yale

    4/17/2010 8:00:00 AM

    Global Health & Innovation Summit at Yale

    Unite For Sight is pleased to announce that registration and abstract submission are now open for the 2010 Global Health & Innovation Summit, which will be held at Yale on April 17-18, 2010. You are receiving this message because you registered to attend a past Global Health & Innovation Summit, a conference presented annually by Unite For Sight. Please feel free to forward this announcement widely. 

    The 2010 Summit will inspire and engage all participants to exchange ideas and create change.  The upcoming Summit will focus on the newest ideas in innovation, social investing, and cutting-edge ideas and strategies in global health and social entrepreneurship. Opportunities abound to engage with leading innovators and ground-breaking ideas for change.

    Global Health & Innovation Summit
    The World's Leading Idea Incubator For Global Health Innovation

    A Conference Presented Annually by Unite For Sight
    Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
    Saturday, April 17 - Sunday, April 18, 2010

    Registration Now Open (Early Bird Registration Rate):http://www.uniteforsight.org/conference

    Call For Abstracts: Submit an abstract online at http://www.uniteforsight.org/conference  The first deadline for abstract submission is August 15, and the final abstract deadline is September 15.

    "A Meeting of Minds," --CNN

    200 Speakers in April 2010, Including Keynote Addresses by Seth Godin, Dr. Jeffrey Sachs and Dr. Sonia Sachs. Plus social innovation sessions by CEOs and Directors of Acumen Fund, Partners in Health, WaterPartners, Save The Children, Share Our Strength, Somaly Mam Foundation, The Fistula Foundation, HealthStore Foundation, and many others.

    What? Join 2,200 people from all 50 states and from more than 60 countries for an innovative, high-impact idea incubator. 
    Who should attend?     Anyone interested in global health and inernational development, public health, eye care, medicine, social entrepreneurship, nonprofits, philanthropy, microfinance, human rights, anthropology, health policy, advocacy, public service, environmental health, and education.  Students, public health professionals, doctors, educators, scientists, lawyers, universities, corporations, nonprofits, and others. 

    Confirmed Keynote Speakers

    "Using The Power of Stories and Tribes To Spread Your Message and Change The World," Seth Godin, MBA, Agent of Change; New York Times Bestselling Author of Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us; Founder, Squidoo.com

    Jeffrey Sachs, PhD, Director of Earth Institute at Columbia University; Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Columbia University; Special Advisor to Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon

    Sonia Ehrlich Sachs, MD, MPH, Health Coordinator, Millennium Village Project

    Confirmed Social Entrepreneurship Speakers

    Scott Hillstrom, Chairman of the Board, CEO and Co-Founder, HealthStore Foundation

    Kevin Jones, Co-Founder, Good Capital

    Nancy Lublin, CEO, Do Something

    Nicholas Lumpp, Cofounder, Somaly Mam Foundation

    Joia Mukherjee, MD, MPH, Medical Director, Partners in Health; Director, Institute for Health and Social Justice; Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School; Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities, Brigham and Women's Hospital

    Ajay Nair, MBBS, MPH, Portfolio Associate, Acumen Fund

    Billy Shore, JD, Founder and CEO, Share Our Strength

    Kevin Starr, MD, Rainer Arnhold Fellows Program, Mulago Foundation

    Gary White, Executive Director, WaterPartners

    Andrew Wolk, CEO, Root Cause

    Confirmed Featured Speakers

    Jesus Aguais, Executive Director, Aid for AIDS

    Astier Almedom, DPhil, Professor of Practice in Humanitarian Policy and Global Public Health

    Agbessi Amouzou, PhD, Assistant Scientist, Institute for International Programs, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

    Tom Arnold, CEO, Concern Worldwide

    Jane Aronson, MD, Director, International Pediatric Health Services; Founder and Executive Officer, Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO); Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Weill Medical College of Cornell University

    Bob Bollinger, MD, MPH, Professor of Infectious Diseases and International Health; Director, Center for Clinical Global Health Education, Johns Hopkins University

    Kathleen Casey, MD, FACS, Director, Operation Giving Back, American College of Surgeons

    Luz Claudio, MD, Associate Professor of Community and Preventive Medicine, Chief of the Division of International Health, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

    Paul Cleary, PhD, Dean of Public Health, Chair, Epidemiology and Public Health; Anna M.R. Lauder Professor of Public Health, Yale University School of Public Health

    Gustavo V. de Moraes, MD, Research Assistant Professor, NYU School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary

    Prabhjot Dhadialla, PhD, Program Director of Health Systems, Development and Research, Columbia Center For Global Health and Economic Development, Community Health Worker Advisor, Millennium Village Project

    Zoravar Dhaliwal, CEO, Community Lab

    Amir Dossal, Executive Director, UN Office for Partnerships

    Susan Forster, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Medical Studies, Department of Ophthalmology, Yale School of Medicine; Chief, Ophthalmology, Yale University Health Services

    Kevin Frick, PhD, Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

    Pape Gaye, President and CEO, IntraHealth International

    Ilene Gipson, PhD, Senior Scientist, Schepens Eye Research Institute; Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School

    Ashifi Gogo, Co-founder, Sproxil; Holekamp Family PhD Innovation Fellow, Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth

    Kate Grant, Executive Director, The Fistula Foundation

    Christopher P. Howson, PhD, Vice President for Global Programs, The March of Dimes Foundation

    Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena, PhD, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

    Kaveh Khoshnood, PhD, Assistant Professor in Public Health Practice, Division of Epidmiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health

    Norman Kleiman, PhD, Director, Eye Radiation and Environmental Research Laboratory, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

    Jamie Lachman, Clowns Without Borders

    Robert Lawrence, MD, The Center for a Livable Future Professor, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Health Policy, and International Health; Director, Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

    Pamela Lynam, MD, Country Director Kenya, JHPIEGO - Johns Hopkins University

    John McGoldrick, JD, Senior Vice President, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)

    Mini Murthy, MD, MPH, MS, MPhil, CHES, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Global Health Program Director, New York Medical College School of Public Health

    Ron Nabors, Chief Executive Officer, Christian Blind Mission-USA

    Cliff O'Callahan, MD, PhD, FAAP, Pediatric Faculty, Family Practice Group; Director of Nurseries, Middlesex Hospital; Chair, AAP Section on International Child Health

    Santa Ono, PhD, Sr. Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Academic Affairs, Emory University

    David Oot, Associate Vice President for Health, Save The Children

    Sung Chul Park, MD, Glaucoma Fellow, New York Medical College, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary

    Matthew Paul, MD, Danbury Eye Physicians and Surgeons

    Steven Phillips, MD, Medical Director, Global Issues and Projects, ExxonMobil Corporation

    Maryse B. Pierre-Louis, MD, MPH, MH/HSA, Lead HNP Specialist, Human Development; Coordinator, Booster Program For Malaria Control in Africa, World Bank Africa Region

    Louis Pizzarello, MD, MPH, Secretary General, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness

    Suzanne Rainey, Forum One Communications

    Rebecca Richards-Kortum, PhD, Stanley C. Moore Professor and Chair of Bioengineering, Rice University

    Majid Sadigh, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine

    Sarwat Salim, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Tennessee-Memphis

    Georgia Sambunaris, Senior Advisor to the Director, Office of Economic Growth, US Agency for International Development

    David Spiegel, MD, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

    Laura Stachel, MD, Bixby Center for Reproductive Health, UC Berkeley School of Public Health

    John E. Tedstrom, PhD, President and CEO, Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC)

    James C. Tsai, MD, Robert R. Young Professor and Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine; Chief of Ophthalmology, Yale-New Haven Hospital

    Sheila West, PhD, El-Maghraby Professor of Preventive Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

    David Zakus, BSc, MES, MSc, PhD, Director, Centre for International Health; Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health; Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation; Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada

    Derek Yach, Vice President of Global Health Policy, PepsiCo

     

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Vietnam Trip Report

August 18 2008

by: Tri Ngo, SOM 2011

It has often been said that a medical student’s first rotation gives a lasting impression of medicine.  However, I never expected my first rotation to be in a foreign country, in a medical setting so drastically different from our own.  Cho Ray Hospital is located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  It is the largest hospital in Southern Vietnam and the second largest hospital in the country.  On the first day of our preceptorship, we arrived at the hospital at seven a.m., and already the parking lot was filled to capacity.  As we walked to the training office, we had to work our way through massive crowds of patients and visitors; it was no different than a bustling city center or the mall the day after thanksgiving.  Recognizing the dialects, I was able to tell these people came from all over the country and even faraway places such as Cambodia.  Clearly, the demand for and popularity of this hospital is enormous.  We were assigned to be in the intensive care unit for two weeks and in the emergency department for the latter two. 

            Like other departments, the ICU is set up and ran differently than the one in the US.  Here, virtually none of the patients get a room of their own.  Patient beds are stacked within a foot and a half within each other with not even a curtain to protect their privacy.  Patient gowns are nonexistent as each patient is draped in a bed sheet which usually does not stay put.  Although the facility is lacking, they are far from being understaffed and patients receive adequate attention and care.  Under the guidance of the intensive care physicians, we learned the pathophysiology of many diseases such as chronic renal disease, COPD, Cushing Syndrome, diabetes mellitus/insipidus, brain tumors, atrial septal defect, etc.  Had our basic science knowledge been more developed, especially with endocrinology and physiology, we would have absorbed so much more here.  Other than expanding our knowledge base, we also administered intramuscular and intravenous shots, as well as practiced drawing blood.  We also assessed patients using the Glasgow Scale, vital signs and test results. 

            Prior to entering medical school, I had volunteer in the emergency department for a year.  Unfortunately that experience did not prepare me for the things I was exposed to in the ER at Cho Ray.  It did not take long for me to realize Cho Ray was a Level 4 Trauma Center.  Droves of patients with the most severe head trauma, infections, and other acute disorders rushed to the ER endlessly.  We were assigned to a team and followed their shifts.  At night, the majority of cases are traffic accidents.  Unlike accidents back home in the states, there are not simply stiff necks or sore backs but more along the line of cranial fractures, subdural hematoma, deep facial lacerations, and traumatic facial/body deformations.  We witnessed full-blown seizures, uncontrollable bleeding, hysterical screaming, and freshly burnt bodies that render the patient beyond recognizable; all the things that warrant their trips to the ER.  Non-emergencies are effectively filtered and sent to primary care.  This, however, does not prevent the ER from filling up.  Like the ICU, there are no private rooms.  Not only are gurneys/beds lined up side-by-side with virtually no space in between, there are many cases in which two or three patients share the same bed!  The ER introduced us to myriad disorders, both acute and chronic.  We observed the clinical manifestations of congestive heart failure, myocardial infarctions, embolic and hemorrhagic strokes, Dengue fever, parasitic infections, septic shock, aortic dissection, head trauma, hysteria, COPD, etc.  We learned basic history-taking and physical examination skills in an emergency setting.  Besides sharpening our shot-administering skills attained in the ICU, we observed suturing, fine needle aspirations and lumbar punctures.  We were given various opportunities to interpret radiographic imaging, electrocardiograms, and blood/urine test results. 

Other departments that I had a chance to visit include endocrinology, endoscopy, and general surgery.  The same theme prevails in every department; way too many patients in way too little space.  In an extreme case, six patients showed up when a bed was summoned by a team.  Patient rooms are always inundated with patients and family members.  Many departments are so full that patients were maintained in the hallways.  In endoscopy, six or seven colonoscopies were performed in an hour.  With few equipments and a large patient load, the instruments are sterilized only briefly between cases. 

The deficiency in facility does not correspond to the quality of physicians.  With their vast medical knowledge, the residents and attendings were able to explain to us in full details of any disorder/disease in question.  We were guided through the signs and symptoms, differential diagnoses, pathological development, test results, and treatment strategies for every case.  The patient culture is radically different than the one in the US.  Patients here are not demanding, they dare not challenge opinions of professionals, and obey all orders of healthcare staff.  In 99% of cases, a family member can be found next to a patient day and night.  Family members are so involved with patients’ health that at times they are asked to perform tasks that are meant to be carried out by medical professionals.  Patient transport around the hospital is the responsibility of family members.  I saw a fascinating case where different family members rotate in manually ventilating a patient with an Ambu bag because the department was out of mechanical ventilators.  The attitudes expressed by patients and their family certainly alter the atmosphere of care. 

The competition for medical admissions rivals that of the US, if not fiercer.  Here secondary students must score nine out of ten in every section of an entrance examination encompassing three different subjects to even have a realistic chance of getting in.  Although the admission qualifications are strictly academics, both medical students and physicians are well-rounded with many different personalities, talents and skills.  There is a whole range of talents, ranging from the musically talented to the artists to the athletes. 

On one occasion, I had an opportunity to participate in a journal club discussion.  The club consists of residents and attendings that meet once a week to discuss articles from the primary literature and present thorough critiques.  They were clearly no strangers to evidence-based-medicine.

This trip has given me the opportunities to learn various Vietnamese medical terminologies, analyze the culture more deeply, practice basic clinical skills, widen my medical knowledge, and exchange perspectives with foreign practitioners.  I was able to see many abnormalities and disorders that I would never get to see in the US.  However, I think it would have been more beneficial if I had a more extensive knowledge of the basic medical science.  It was amazing to be immersed in such a different environment and I recommend it to anyone who desires an exotic learning experience.

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  1. Vietnam Trip Report

    18 August 2008

    This trip has given me the opportunities to learn various Vietnamese medical terminologies, analyze the culture more deeply, practice basic clinical skills, widen my medical knowledge, and exchange perspectives with foreign practitioners. I was able to see many abnormalities and disorders that I would never get to see in the U.S. However, I think it would have been more beneficial if I had a more extensive knowledge of the basic medical science. It was amazing to be immersed in such a different environment and I recommend it to anyone who desires an exotic learning experience.

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