Tag Archives: clinical rotations

Alumni Spotlight: Q&A with Alana D’Onofrio

Alana D’Onofrio participated in CFHI’s program Exploring HIV & Maternal/Child Health in Kabale, Uganda in September 2014. She is an aspiring physician assistant and recent graduate of Northern Arizona University, where she majored in Biomedical Sciences.

Q. How did you hear about CFHI? What attracted you to the Uganda program?

I heard about CFHI through the study abroad program at Northern Arizona University. CFHI was highly recommended to me. It had always been a passion of mine to volunteer in Africa and experience the culture there—that is what attracted me to the Uganda program.

Q. What were your goals going in to the program? How did CFHI help you in achieving those?

My goals going into the program were really to gain knowledge—whether that be medical or healthcare knowledge, or knowledge of a different culture and how people live, eat, dance, work, etc. in a country completely foreign to me. CFHI helped me accomplish these goals. Their partner organization in Kabale has some very special staff members who were willing to teach me so much. They allowed me to ask any question, explained everything about the people of Uganda and their culture, and made me feel very comfortable.

Q. How did the program impact you?

The program impacted me greatly. It solidified my goals of wanting to go into a healthcare career because I learned how much I love working with patients. I also feel more worldly. I now know so much about a country in Africa where very few Americans travel to. I know about the people, the food, the music, and the languages of Uganda. I saw how amazing the people that live there are, how simply they live, and how much they enjoy life no matter how hard it is. The people there inspired me to live my life like them and to never take anything you have for granted.

Q. What were the highlights of your experience?

I have so many highlights of my time in Uganda. One highlight would be heading down to the clinic everyday, excited to see the staff and looking forward to what I was going to learn or see that day. The relationships that I established with the staff are another highlight. We had amazing conversations and always had so much fun. Other highlights include traveling to villages for outreaches to treat people who could not make it to the main clinic in Kabale, hiking the Muhavura Volcano in Kisoro, and going on a safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Q. How has the program changed your perception of health?

I now understand the diversity of health. Health in Uganda is very different than health in America, yet there are many similarities. There are diseases unique to East Africa that I was able to see and study. There are also differences in the way people are treated and diagnosed for these conditions. The diagnostic tests in Uganda are much more limited, therefore many cases are not solved. Certain conditions and diseases that are treated easily in America are not easily treated in Uganda and are sometimes fatal because people do not have the money to pay for healthcare services or because they wait until that last minute to get checked out.

Q. Who was the most inspiring person you met on the program?

The most inspiring person I met was Allen. He is a medical officer who works under Dr. Anguyo at the KIHEFO clinic and he is the preceptor who I shadowed. He has such a passion to help and treat others. The clinic is very understaffed and Allen wants to go back to school to become more qualified in certain areas such as radiology, so that he can help the clinic even more. While he treated patients, he was so patient and always took the time to explain things to me. Overall, he was a great teacher and such a passionate healthcare worker.

Q. How has your worldview changed?

I knew so little of Uganda and even the continent of Africa before my trip. Africa is not at all like what is portrayed of it on the news. Obviously there are parts with war, disease, and extreme poverty, but there are also amazing things about Africa that I was able to see. I no longer associate one country of Africa with the whole continent. Each country is unique.

Special thanks to Alana D’Onofrio for allowing us to interview her for this post.

CFHI Announces New Program in East Africa

Leave a reply

CFHI’s Newest Programs in East Africa: Be Part of “An Activated Community” in Southwest Uganda

It is exciting when CFHI finds a partner so well aligned with its values of addressing broad determinants of health, engaging communities to help themselves, and strengthening local capacity for health care and community activation. The Kigezi Healthcare Foundation (KIHEFO), a non-profit organization operating in Kabale, Uganda, is fighting disease, poverty, and ignorance by creating “An Activated Community.” In partnership with KIHEFO, CFHI’s new Uganda programs HIV & Maternal/Child Health and Nutrition, Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture offer students from all academic backgrounds a firsthand learning experience addressing health, poverty, and education.

Uganda is a country in Sub-Saharan East Africa facing many serious health problems and challenges, including high rates of maternal mortality (only 30% of women give birth in a health facility), HIV and child malnutrition. There is a shortage of medical professionals working in Uganda, along with equipment and medications. With the majority of the population living in rural villages and earning around less than $2 a day while subsistence farming, access to healthcare services is a severe challenge.

KIHEFO’s mission is to fight disease, poverty and ignorance in an integrated, sustainable manner. This means not only delivering healthcare, but helping communities deliver themselves out of poverty and reducing the problems causing sickness and disease. The team is large, “an activated community” made up of staff, former-patients and supporters worldwide mobilizing their communities for improved health and economic well-being.

CFHI Student’s Role in Uganda

Through CFHI, students from all academic backgrounds and levels have the opportunity to work closely to learn first-hand about child and maternal health, HIV, malnutrition prevention and rehabilitation, food security, sustainable agriculture, empowerment of women’s groups, micro-credit savings and community mobilization.

Students observe and learn from healthcare professionals working at the General Clinic, at the HIV/AIDS Clinic learn from counselors and former HIV positive patients about testing and counseling HIV+ patients, and participate in a monthly HIV outreach.

At the Nutrition & Rehabilitation Centre, students learn from social workers and nurses about preventing and rehabilitating malnourished children, and participate in nutrition assessments to measure patient’s growth and progress. Additionally, students learn about sustainable agriculture practices, including permaculture, and the importance of crop diversification and growing food closer to home.

KIHEFO believes there is no single cause of disease, much like there is no single solution. Mirroring the CFHI approach they believe initiatives must be integrated, community-based and sustainable. Join CFHI’s Uganda Programs to learn from the people behind the “community activated” model for improving health and livelihoods.

Learn more.

How it All Began: The Early Days of CFHI

Leave a reply

The Early Days of CFHI Featured at San Francisco Film Festival

This past July the documentary film “The Most Distant Places” was featured amongst others at the Bay Area Global Health Film Festival. This story, directed by Mike Seely, is depicted from the perspective of Ecuadorian doctor Dr. Edgar Rodas, then a medical school Dean in Cuenca, Ecuador. The film chronicled the importance of constructing a mobile surgical clinic and the team involved in bringing mobile care to remote communities in Ecuador.

The film festival was organized to shed light on a critical message in need of a strong voice: access to the most basic surgical care is a human right, not a luxury. Dr. Rodas shared his story and expressed an unwavering commitment to his fellow Ecuadorians. As the film came to an end and the audience allowed the weight of the story to settle, he delicately reminded everyone that every effort produces a result. These efforts would eventually result in CFHI- Child Family Health International as we know it today.

A Chance Meeting

A young Evaleen Jones (right), in Ecuador.

As I sat across the table from Dr. Evaleen Jones, CFHI’s Founder and President, I marveled that even after twenty-one years, she tells the story of CFHI’s beginning with energy and excitement. She reminisced about her time in Ecuador as a third year medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine. At the time, Stanford University did not readily offer International Health opportunities abroad with a student focus. To best serve patients living in densely populated Latino communities within the Bay Area, Evaleen knew that Spanish language and cultural competencies were essential. And so, with only a modest amount of money she embarked on her first adventure abroad.

Once in Ecuador, Evaleen’s efforts to connect with local physicians led her to Dr. Edgar Rodas, the doctor who would be featured in the Distant Places film many years later. She came to know him as a simple man who exuded a deep-seeded commitment to the well-being of his fellow countrymen. As a surgeon he rejected the notion that a person cannot have an operation simply because they don’t have enough money. Regardless of the enormity of such an undertaking, he felt the status quo would not suffice.

As chronicled in the film, Dr. Rodas’ goal was to build a mobile surgical clinic. Evaleen, sensing the strength of his presence and understanding the value of his quest, jumped in headfirst and agreed to return to the States to arrange funding for construction of the mobile clinic. According to Evaleen, “There are some people who you can sense very quickly are special individuals.” Even after only a week of knowing Dr. Rodas, she allowed her instincts to propel her forward.

CFHI Begins

The start of her fourth year in medical school Evaleen hit the ground running. Every conceivable connection was utilized- donations of all kinds– designing and constructing a surgical clinic, shipping the mobile unit. Evaleen’s fearlessness in asking gave her the edge that ultimately convinced others to help. Each someone told her “absolutely not Evaleen, this is impossible,” it motivated her to continue.

It was during this time that CFHI came to life. Approaching potential donors as a recognized NGO lead to greater success. Evaleen had also not lost sight of her original intentions: CFHI was to be a platform to provide medical students (and later students of varying fields interested in health) with learning opportunities abroad, and to increase language and cultural competencies. Dr. Jones states again and again that the world is a classroom and students should pay for the privilege of learning. Uniquely CFHI, she also saw that students could be a sustainable source of support for locally-run health care efforts that don’t breed reliance on Western ‘aid.’ While placed in the global classroom, students are encouraged to open their minds and listen well, and let the world change them. Even with the passing of time, Dr. Rodas and Dr. Evaleen Jones remain faithful to their belief that, “It has always been about the people, not the projects.”

–Lyndsey Brahm

Special thanks to CFHI alumna and volunteer Lyndsey Brahm for her work on this post. Lyndsey will be attending the University of Copenhagen, School of Global Health in 2014.

Have some ideas and interested in blogging for CFHI? Email info(at)cfhi.org for details.

Student Essays Reflect Realities and Impact of Global Health

Leave a reply

Student Essay Contest Winners with CFHI Executive Director Jessica Evert, MD (far left)

At CUGH’s Annual Meeting last week in Washington, DC educators and students from over 60 countries met to discuss the global health landscape. Perhaps one of the most powerful and emotional sessions was one that captured power of reflection in global Continue reading →

The Power of IFMSA & The Global Health Placebo Effect

Leave a reply

International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) is not just another acronym in a field laden with catchy abbreviations- it is a groundbreaking organization that despite its 60+ years of existence is doing something that remains innovative- bringing together medical student colleagues from around the world to work together as peers.

IFMSA Meets in U.S. for the First Time in Decades

Dr. Jessica Evert, CFHI Executive Director & IFMSA Alumna, with other IFMSA Alumni

This year the setting for the IFMSA General Assembly is Baltimore. Medical students from Sudan work alongside colleagues from the US, those from Panama collaborate with Poland, the interactions are endless. As an alumna of IFMSA I got the privilege to join the meeting and reconnect with old friends from my days as IFMSA-USA Vice President. IFMSA’s US affiliate is the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), who is also partnered with CFHI. IFMSA is a great resource for AMSA members, especially those interested in global health. Often the global health dialogue is dominated by Western voices. IFMSA allows 1,000+ medical students from around the world to work face-to-face twice a year. It democratizes global health and allows for crucial relationship development that is necessary for a unified global advocacy voice for health equity and justice. It has the secondary effect of humanizing perceptions of the developing world- rather that breading pity; it engenders mutual respect between colleagues from both resource-rich and resource-limited countries.

CFHI Global Health Approach Shared & Praised at IFMSA

Child Family Health International (CFHI) was in great company during the IFMSA alumni meeting. Attendees praised CFHI for its gold-standard model for global health education. Colleagues from Ghana, Serbia, Philippines, Nigeria, and beyond approached me with gratitude for CFHIs important advocacy voice in the global health education field.

I was equally as impressed by the candid discussion about advocacy provided by Predrag Stojicic from LeadingChange. Predrag distilled buzz words and espoused a platform for grassroots champion recruitment and leadership. A thoughtful organization, The 53^rd Week, took the stage to describe their pragmatic approach to evaluate and maximize short-term medical trips. These trips are characterized by volunteers going to resource-limited communities, usually for 1-2 weeks to deliver medical care and related services. While well intended, the global health community is increasingly leery of short-term volunteer experiences, as their impact has been questioned and downfalls revealed.

The ‘Global Health Placebo Effect’

Lawrence Loh, co-founder of The 53^rd Week, calls the appearance of impact enabled by short-term medical missions the “Global Health Placebo Effect.” Under the strong leadership of Loh and co-founder Henry Lin, The 53^rd Week is creating a platform for the multiple, disjointed teams who visit a community at different times during the year to coordinate their efforts to created continuity, sustainability, and an overarching orchestrated approach targeted towards upstream interventions. Concurrently, they are raising awareness of the risks of short-term medical missions and suggesting alternatives that may lead to more tangible and sustainable ‘help.’

The efforts of these great colleagues and the synergy with CFHI philosophical approach and model of running Global Health Education Programs has been inspirational!

CFHI & Northwestern University Students Impact Women’s Health in Mexico

Leave a reply

A Global Team

Global Health Initiative (GHI) at Chicago Lake Shore Medical Associates is a nonprofit organization leading through philanthropic advocacy. Funding from GHI provided medical students at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine (FSM) the opportunity to engage in a month-long global health experience in Oaxaca, Mexico with a lasting impact. Beginning in 2011, Continue reading →

Celebrating 20 Years of CFHI

7 Replies

Happy Birthday, Child Family Health International!

2012 marks the 20th anniversary of CFHI’ s transformative Global Health Education Programs and Community Empowerment. This milestone gives us a chance to celebrate and to look back on the impact of CFHI. Continue reading →

New US Census Data Shows Diversity of US Population Increasing

1 Reply

“We are approaching a new highpoint in the prevalence of US residents who were born outside the country.” This is part of a message on the Director’s Blog of the US Census Bureau website that is aimed at the marketing industry, at advertisers of goods and services, but we at CFHI believe it is also important information for current and future health professionals.

While the Census Bureau is providing this new data, none of the basic trends of an increasingly diverse population for the United States should be a surprise to us. Forward thinking health professionals and medical educators have seen the indications of these trends for many years. Health science students (including medical students, nursing students, and public health students) have not waited for courses to be developed by the data that is now beginning to be analyzed, but have taken the initiative to seek out medical electives and rotations that would give them first-hand experience of different cultures and the different ways people view health around the world.

Source: US Census Bureau -Director's Blog

With some 6,000 alumni of CFHI Global Health Immersion Programs to date, we hear over and over again from them how their CFHI experience gave them insight into the role that culture plays in health and healthcare. Tenny Lee, a 2010 CFHI Mexico alum, reports: “My experience in Mexico has given my medical career a foundation to help underserved communities and break though language and cultural barriers.” You can read more about her CFHI experience in her review posted on the website Great Nonprofits. The ability to competently serve a more widely diverse patient population will clearly become the expectation for health professionals, as we can see from the wealth of information that the US Census Bureau is releasing.

One of the most important data points released so far is that the Hispanic population of the US now exceeds 50 Million, a 43% increase since the last census as reported by CNN. And it is not just in border states in the south. The CNN article quotes demographer Jeffrey Passel at the Pew Hispanic Center as saying, “Previously, the Hispanic population was concentrated in eight or nine states; it is now spread throughout the country.”

Medical schools, organizations, and institutions of higher learning have also recognized these trends, and CFHI has been happy to work with many of them to design specific programs. The Patient Advocacy Program at the Stanford Medical School began a program abroad with CFHI in 2007. The University of California at Davis has partnered with CHFI for over five years now to offer a Bi-National Health Quarter Abroad program for undergraduates in special arrangement with the Chicana/o Studies Department at UCD. Both of these programs also make use of CFHI’s built-in Spanish Language and Medical Spanish Instruction. Students are also living with host families so they are immersed into the culture during the program. Guided journaling and weekly meetings help students reflect and integrate what they are learning from their daily interactions. CFHI is also working with others, including Northwestern University, The Student National Medical Association (SNMA), -which you can read more about in an earlier posting– and the Public Health Institute in association with the Global Health Fellows Program. CFHI has been able to partner with each group and use our 20 years of experience working at the grassroots level in underserved communities abroad to design programs that meet specific learning objectives that are achieved in real life settings with the help of local health professionals who have the unique expertise of the local healthcare system and the best understanding of the local culture.

Jessica Brown, a 2010 CFHI Ecuador alum, pulls it all together in her reflection about her CFHI experience:

“… [I] learned a wealth of information about health that extended beyond the Reproductive realm.” Jessica goes on to say, “I learned a lot about Ecuador’s healthcare system by discussing health care access, education, socioeconomic class and ethnic background with my mentors and preceptors. I learned about how religion, education and customary social/cultural schools of thought (i.e. machismo) weigh heavily on Ecuador’s society, and individual minds; I saw how the cultural “way” dictated the population’s attitude towards healthcare, especially in Women’s Reproductive Health.

The moments that caused me to question belief systems in place within myself really stretched me beyond limits I never knew possible. And it is these reflections upon the state of health care in Quito that can broaden my understanding of client needs, beliefs and culture here in the states.”

Making Global Health Knowledge a Requirement for MD Students

11 Replies

A Post From CFHI’s Medical Director:

I’m just returning from conducting a workshop at the NEGEA Regional Conference. NEGEA is the Northeast educator’s chapter of the AAMC – a gathering of the people who oversee medical student and resident education. Just like many in global health medical education, they are grappling with how to get their hands around the subject and figure out how to increase collaboration.
Continue reading →

CFHI Teams Up with SNMA for Special Global Health Experience

2 Replies

CFHI and SNMA have teamed up to present this new and specialized program that offers participants the opportunity to participate in a 2-week global health program in the city of Oaxaca Mexico!

The Student National Medical Association (SNMA) is the oldest and largest, student-run organization focused on the needs and concerns of medical students of color. For over 40 years SNMA has been dedicated to ensuring culturally sensitive medical education and services. For 20 years, CFHI has been offering Global Health Immersion programs designed to help students appreciate the role that culture plays in health and healthcare. By teaming up, CFHI and SNMA hope to make a Global Health experience accessible to more students. This special 2-week program, previously open only to SNMA members, is now open to all health science students. Space is limited so apply early.

The SNMA-CFHI 2-week Urban Primary Care in Oaxaca program aims to introduce students to the cultural competencies that are crucial for effective health care professionals. This program is tailored for those who wish to increase their cultural and linguistic competency as well as their understanding of the health factors affecting Latinos.

Oaxaca is an excellent setting for studying the healthcare system of Mexico and the healthcare practices of the population. Students often hold the false assumption that the healthcare is available to all, but find in Oaxaca that poor and rural populations are increasingly unable to compete for scarce health resources.

CFHI programs offer participants the opportunity to learn more about health issues that transcend national borders, class, ethnicity, and cultural divisions. By participating in CFHI’s global health education you will gain a unique insight into healthcare systems of developing countries and increase your cultural competency. Increasing one’s awareness of other cultures (cultural competency) is becoming increasingly relevant for healthcare professionals as industrialized countries become more ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse. Click here to read an article and learn more about why cultural competency is important for today’s healthcare workforce.

The program dates are June 3^rd to June 18^th. Please visit the CFHI website to learn more.

We look forward to having you join our grassroots work to build a global community in support of better healthcare for underserved communities and more globally aware health professionals!

Global Health TV Looks at CFHI Program In India

Leave a reply

Global Health TV, based in London, recently visited one of CFHI’s Community Health Projects in India. The Catch Them Young Program is a health education program directed at youth ages 12-19 in a rural area outside the city of Pune. This is one example of a typical CFHI Community Health Project that originates at the local level and therefore has local ownership. CFHI has been happy to provide some of the funding to advance this project and to support the great dedication that local health professionals and community workers have to their own underserved communities.

The 5 minute short film can be seen on the Global Health TV website. We have posted it to the CFHI YouTube Channel as well. It also shows one of CFHI’s Global Health Immersion Programs in India. CFHI seeks to identify local community health professionals who are dedicated to local underserved communities.

GHTV Feature of CFHI Community Health Project Computer View

GHTV Feature of CFHI Community Health Project in India

These unsung heroes are local experts and CFHI works with them to develop the 4-12 week Global Health Immersion Programs that international students of the health professions attend. The programs are empowering to the local community as the community sees their own health professionals instructing and mentoring international students. The film had its debut at the Canadian Conference on Global Health in Ottawa, November 1-3, 2010.

CFHI Alum Reflects on Her Experience in South Africa

Leave a reply

Stella Chiu who spent part of her summer on one of CFHI’s Global Health Immersion Programs in South Africa contributed to a blog on the IE3 Global Internships website. Her blog post Coming Home with New Perspectives is an honest sharing of her thoughts as she is still in the re-entry process. Stella says, “I haven’t had any major problems re-integrating. However, the only difficulties I’ve encountered are through the new perspectives that I’ve gained.”

Stella reports that after being completely immersed in the South African culture and healthcare system, and especially with the warm welcome of her South African host family, she now finds herself, at times, ‘homesick’ for South Africa. Stella recommends to others who go abroad to build in time to reflect after coming home, to “sit down and think” so that you can become aware of how your perspective has changed “both personally and professionally” by what you have experienced. She says of her friends, “Sometimes it is hard for others to understand my outlook on certain things because they have not experienced what I have experienced.”

As part of her own reflection, Stella shares, “I am grateful for the opportunity CHFI-South Africa has given me in developing my clinical skills and finding my niche. I did rotations in surgery, pediatrics, ophthalmology, and in internal medicine and found an unexpected love for surgery. I grew to understand South Africa’s health care system, as well as its deficiencies, setting the groundwork for when I can return someday to work. I have built lifelong relationships with students in the program, and the families that I stayed with. I know that I will always have a home in South Africa.”

We wish Stella well as she continues her re-entry and we know that her host family and those who worked with her in South Africa were grateful for her presence and will never forget her.

CFHI Alum: “It Made Me Want To Be A Doctor A Lot More…”

Leave a reply

“It made me want to be a doctor a lot more, for sure,” she said. “Seeing doctors in action, they were really fantastic role models. It’s hard to get exposure shadowing doctors here (in the Bay Area). I’ve had a few opportunities at Stanford. The more time I got… the more inspired I am to become a doctor.” These are the words of Christina O’Neal, as reported in the Contra Costa Times by Correspondent Doug Mead. Christina, a Stanford University premedical student, spent part of her summer in the Cultural Crossroads in Health Program in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Christina told the Contra Costa Times in the article that her month on the CFHI program in Oaxaca, “was pretty life-changing. Everybody gets pretty much free health care there,” she said. “It’s interesting to see how things are run. There’s a lot of poverty, and the government, in terms of health care, has a lot of problems. But the infrastructure was good. I was impressed with how smooth it ran and how dedicated the doctors were. It was an awesome experience.”

The experience really improved Christina’s Spanish and Medical Spanish skills. “I’d say, before I got there, I was conversational (in Spanish),” she said. “Now, I’m borderline fluent. My comprehension, especially, skyrocketed. I’ve always had a pretty standard ability to speak. Now, I understand everything that’s happening. Even though my vocabulary didn’t grow as much, I can express myself better. Once you understand people better, it helps you to speak more correctly. We went over grammar and medical vocabulary every day (in class).”

We are very glad for Christina that her experience was so impactful and we greatly appreciate her kind words about the CFHI program as she ended her interview with the newspaper saying, “Everything was fantastic. It surpassed all my expectations. It was a phenomenal experience.”

Global Health Down Under -A students’ Conference- Hobart, Tasmania

3 Replies

Australia site of Global Health Conference

CFHI is very happy to be at the Global Health Conference in Hobart, Tasmania that is being put on by the Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA). The conference running 1-4 July has a full academic program with impressive topics and excellent speakers. The entire conference is organized by and for students and the level of professionalism is truly outstanding. CFHI is very happy to be an NGO sponsor here and we find the interest and engagement of the students to be at a very high level. A CFHI alum from Perth, Samantha Mulholland (2009, Pediatric Health, La Paz), has been present and giving her first-hand descriptions of her CFHI experience.

UTAS Site of Global Health Conference Tasmania

The University of Tasmania in Hobart is the site for the conference as some 500 students gather from across Australia and New Zealand, and even from Asia and Africa.

Indeed students all over the world have a growing interest in Global Health. What is refreshing here is that so many of them are deeply informed on world issues, social determinants of health and many other areas. Panels of leading experts, student questions and discussions have all been engaging and enlightening.

Panel discussion at the Global Health Conference Hobart Tasmania July 2010

University of Oregon Students Receive Awards for CFHI Programs in Bolivia and South Africa

Leave a reply

Ann Oluloro and Stella Chiu, both students at the University of Oregon have received scholarships awarded by the IE3 Global Internships Program. Many other students from participating IE3 Schools will attend CFHI programs this year and will receive credit from their home institutions. Oluloro and Chiu, “…stood out among their peers…” according to the IE3 Field Blog Website.

Ann Oluloro Bound for Bolivia

Ann Oluloro will be participating in CFHI programs in Bolivia starting in July 2010. In her CFHI application she identified several reasons for seeking entrance to a CFHI program in Bolivia. Becoming a fluent Spanish speaker is important for her professional goals. “Being fluent in Spanish is an important part of my future career because I plan on working in public clinics. Currently, as a volunteer at White Bird Community Clinic, I often see the doctor communicate with patients in Spanish. By being able to speak another language, the doctor is able to break down a communication barrier that would have otherwise existed and is therefore able to provide the patient with the best care she possible can.” She dreams one day of working with Doctors Without Borders and she believes that her CFHI experience, “…will give me a deeper insight into international medicine…” and help her “…learn about a culture and a way of life that books and textbooks cannot provide.” She hopes that her time in Bolivia, “…will give me a glimpse and understanding of a culture that I may otherwise not have a chance to learn about first hand. In addition, the internship will teach me about the structure of public health systems and how such systems are implemented in under developed nations both in rural and urban settings. Ann has done her homework, reading about the challenges faced by many countries to provide healthcare to their populations. “I am highly interested in how some under developed nations are still able to find ways and means in which to implement effective public health systems.”

Stella Chiu will be participating in CFHI programs in South Africa. Stella’s goal is to become a doctor and also to have an impact on underserved populations. She sees being part of a CFHI program as, “…a perfect match for what I want to do with my future. I want to become a physician and gain clinical experience, but I also want to help underdeveloped countries with public health efforts.” For Stella, it is important to be immersed in another culture, “I hope to gain clinical experience in a setting that is different from that of the United States. I believe this would make me a better physician in the future because it will help me see beyond the privileged population and be more competent in serving the less privileged. I hope CFHI will provide me with opportunities to learn and experience things first-hand.”

Both Ann and Stella will be reporting on their experiences so we look forward to more in their own words. We wish these students well as they embark on a summer that they will surely remember forever, and good luck with the tremendous potential of career opportunities that await them in the future.

Interview with CFHI’s Medical Director –Audio Post

Leave a reply

I had the chance to sit down with CFHI’s Medical Director, Dr. Jessica Evert, at our offices in San Francisco, just before she was honored with an award from the Global Heath Education Consortium (GHEC) at their annual conference in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Dr. Evert began her role as CFHI Medical Director in January. Her education career includes studies at Emory University, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and the University of California at San Francisco, where she continues to serve as a clinical faculty member of the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

We spoke about her introduction to Global Health, how she integrates her work as a physician in the San Francisco Bay Area with her Global Health Activities, and what attracted her to CFHI. She talks about how CFHI’s model is one that changes the dynamic by empowering local communities through actively building on their strengths in ways that lead to sustainable solutions.

Please click on the links to listen to our conversation and you are invited to join the conversation through adding your comments below.

Communication Skills for Medical Students and Other Health Science Students

Leave a reply

Empathic Listening Training for Health Professionals

Professionalism as a component of medical education is something we all know is important but can be hard to effectively impart and even harder to measure. Students who want to improve their professional skills report that it can be difficult to find effective ways to do so.

One of the most obvious ways that the professionalism of a doctor or medical professional is seen by his or her patients, is through the communication skills that are used on a daily basis. Effective communication is a two-way street and becomes ever more challenging each day as our societies become more multicultural. Empathy spans culture, gender, race, age, and socioeconomic factors that can become barriers to effective communication. The need to be understood is a universal human trait and with the right tools, the medical professional can use that energy to charge the healing process in a positive way instead of just letting that energy create stress, confusion and possibly frustration.

Over the years, many CFHI students have commented that the time spent immersed in another culture, has increased their awareness of others and also their awareness of self. Being in a foreign culture and a foreign healthcare system makes a person aware, sometimes awkwardly aware of themselves and of their assumptions about how healthcare should be delivered. Many of the things that we might take for granted on a daily basis are suddenly removed. The experience is one that is new, different, challenging, perhaps uncomfortable and, at the same time, an amazing opportunity for learning. Here too empathy can play a role. The practice of self empathy can help transform the experience to be one of learning and not just stress.

CFHI is thrilled to present, in collaboration with the Center for Nonviolent Communication CNVC, a two-part training focusing on empathy. This will be a live phone-in training. We encourage CFHI alumni and students preparing to go in CFHI programs to register for this free training.

Choose Your Words Professional Edition by Mel Sears

The Professional Edition of Choose Your Words by Mel Sears

Melanie Sears has been a Registered Nurse for more than 25 years and a certified trainer in effective communication since 1991. Her book, Choose Your Words: Harnessing the Power of Compassionate Communication to Heal and Connect, is an excellent workbook designed to help health professionals be more effective in their communication with both patients and colleagues. Joining her as co-trainer will be John Kinyon, also a certified trainer in communication skills since 2000. John has worked in a number of international settings and has worked with many groups to address the challenges of cross cultural communication.

CFHI is honored and grateful to have Mel and John offer their expertise to CFHI participants.

CFHI Expands Rural Program in Himalayan Region of India

Leave a reply

CFHI’s program in rural areas of Northern India will expand in 2010 and our student programs will support a local doctor’s dream of increasing access to healthcare in this region. Dr. U.S. Paul has been working in the surrounding areas for many years and he knows well the needs of the people in rural villages. We are happy to help him in this new effort to serve thousands more people in the foothills of the Himalayas who have little or no access to healthcare. The effort is being conducted by a local nonprofit, the Indian Global Health and Education Forum. The village of Sirasu will be one of the areas served. The villages are accessible on foot after crossing the great river. This photo shows the crossing point at Gullar on the River Ganges, about 45 minutes drive north of Rishikesh.

Ganges Crossing Point at Gullar

As we made the drive along mountain roads tracing the edge of the gorge, with sheer drop-offs right next to you that are not for the faint of heart, Dr. Paul spoke of his excitement at being able to operate regular health camps for this remote population. The area around Sirasu is one of several village groupings that will be served Sirasu and its grouping have a population of about 1,500 people. Each village has its own identity and Dr. Paul is an expert at providing care that is respectful of the cultural differences that may exist even from village to village.

Crossing to the East side of the river Ganges in a simple rowboat, I looked over and saw Dr. Paul beaming with joy because he knows how important these services are to the people.

Crossing The River Ganges --Mr. Mayank Vats, CFHI Local Coordinator, and Dr. U.S. Paul board a boat to cross to the East side of the Ganges river

Once across the river, it is a 20-30 minute hike up the East side of the gorge to Sirasu. Dr. Paul meets with village leaders to discuss recent developments. An initial camp was held in November during which Dr. Paul saw more than 150 people in one day. The people ask Dr. Paul to schedule the camps as often as possible. With many other villages to cover, Dr. Paul says he will plan to make monthly visits. While they would wish for more, the people are very happy and express their gratitude.

Local School that serves as a site for the health camp

The camps are conducted at the few local schools as these are natural gathering points and are the largest structures around.

Everything is built on relationships. The local formalities of introductions and meetings to discuss the different aspects are a time to build trust and gain the valuable support of village leaders. These meetings over cups of tea are important times to size everyone up and get a feel for each other. It is the oral culture’s way of completing an application form.

Every meeting has to have tea

We look forward to these additions to our program and to developing these new relationships.

After meeting with local leaders of Sirasu to discuss health camps

Report from Kwazulu-Natal: Filling a Need for Forty Years –The Islamic Medical Association of South Africa

Leave a reply

Dr. Ebrahim Khan is a family practitioner with a private practice in the Kwazulu-Natal Province of South Africa and serves as Medical Director of the CFHI program based out of Durban. As with most doctors in South Africa, the demands on his time are great. Dr. Khan’s daily schedule is easily enough for two or three men. His long and distinguished career has earned him the respect and confidence of the local community, and even at this point in his career, his desire to be of service and give back is as vibrant as I have seen in twenty-year-old students, so he is a good match for the many CFHI students from around the world who choose the Durban program. I especially sensed a love for teaching medicine in a way that guides the students to make their own discoveries.

Among the many hats Dr. Khan wears is that of being the Vice President of the Islamic Medical Association of South Africa. In the early 1970’s, a few Muslim Doctors, noting with concern the disparate health services under the Apartheid government of South Africa, embarked upon the establishment of a modest Sunday clinic on the south coast of Natal in Eastern South Africa, where there were virtually no services for the black rural community. This was the birth of what would be called the Islamic Medical Association. With such a deeply personal mission, it did not fade away after the end of Apartheid. Now almost 40 years later, IMA has set up various healthcare and crisis relief centers operating full time in various places in the country where there is dire need for such facilities; social work and counseling are happening for families and children as well. The IMA mission challenges them as healthcare professionals to “establish and project a value system that is a living entity in our own lives, and in the practice of health care solely for the service and the pleasure of the Almighty. ” The health professionals who give their service are truly dedicated to improving primary care for the underserved.

Avril Whate, Vusi Ngcobo, Steve Schmidbauer

One of the many programs that IMA provides here is a small community clinic in Marianhill outside of Durban, a favorite site for CFHI students. One of the services that has been happening for some time now is voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV. Vusi Ngcobo is the counselor who is responsible for the success of the VCT program here. In an area with such a high prevalence of HIV, it is important that voluntary testing happens so that the virus can be detected as early as possible. For those found to be HIV-negative, they will still receive valuable information about HIV prevention.

The clinic here and the many other projects of IMA are the continuation of a very long tradition of providing healthcare and teaching medical students. I learned that in ancient times, medical education was flourishing in Islamic society as evidenced by written case studies for teaching that date to the seventh century!

International Experiences and Medcial Education

Leave a reply

The May-June issue of International Educator, the magazine of the Association of International Educators (NAFSA), contains an article by Karen Legget entitled: Teaching Medicine Without Borders. Ms Legget traces the movement from “International Health” to “Global Health” and the impact this is having on medical education.

She looks at various programs from medical schools to organizations (including CFHI) and conducts interviews with students and administrators alike. Her article can be found through the NAFSA website.