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Belize,
China,
Ecuador,
Mexico,
Thailand,
Uganda
Belize
The Hillside Clinic in the Toledo District of Southern Belize have
served as an international elective site for UW medical, PA and nursing
students for more than 5 years. Operated by Hillside Health Care
International (HHCI), an NGO based in the US, Hillside has been
providing on-site medical care, mobile clinics, home visits,
rehabilitation services, and educational programs through its clinic
located 5 miles outside Punta Gorda, in Eldridge since 2000. Current
educational programs support 6 medical and PA students, and medical
residents monthly on 4 week rotations, and occasional nursing students.
Faculty volunteers are welcome year round.
In March and April, 2006, site
visits by Jim Shropshire, MD, and Jeff Nicholson, PAC, were made to
explore options for future involvement by other health care students and
professionals. Besides maintaining the site for medical and PA and
medical students and residents, overwhelming support was found for an
upcoming project to be done by Jeff Hartman, PT and student in the UW
MPH program. “The Hartman Project” will provide an assessment of the
rehabilitation needs of the Toledo District in collaboration with the
UWSMPH, HHCI, the Belize Ministry of Health (MOH), and several NGOs
within Belize. Contacts were made with many health care providers and
the MOH that should allow for similar projects to be undertaken in this
underserved area following this model. Specifically, there may be
opportunities for veterinary projects that could assess the health of
the domesticated animals, sources of zoonotic infections, and coordinate
work with the Vector Control Officers working with the MOH in Punta
Gorda. There may be options for pharmacy projects to assist Hillside
clinic in developing its outpatient pharmacy systems, education of
patients in the community about use of medications and assessing
effectiveness and use of herbal remedies. Public health projects such
as access to potable water and toilets, education on nutrition, and
access to health care in the new National Health Insurance (NHI) program
are also possible. The Hillside clinic is negotiating to become a
provider in NHI which will potentially expand its service area and
create new opportunities for collaborative projects such as those
outlined above. Housing and transportation issues will need to be
addressed on an as needed basis, and interested students and faculty
should work closely with Jeff and Jim in developing their projects to
assure collaboration with HHCI and help connect with on-site mentors.
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China
The UW Dept of Family Medicine is involved in activities with
faculty of Capitol University in Beijing to expand training of family
doctors in China under the leadership of Professor Ken Kushner. A
number of exchanges occurred during the year: in August 2005, Drs.
Kushner and John Frey visited Beijing to participate in a national
educational conference; in October 2005 two junior faculty visited the
UW-Madison for a three week fellowship; and in May 2006 eight health
system leaders visited the UW DFM, CGH and UW Hospitals and Clinics to
gain a better understanding of the role of family physicians in the US
health system. Plans are underway to seek funding to train Chinese
teachers of family medicine.
Ecuador
Collaborations with Ecuador include the successful Field School, and elective rotations for medical and pharmacy
students in a hospital in the village of Pedro Vicente Maldanado in
rural Ecuador, built and run by Dr. David Gaus, a faculty member of the
UW Dept of Family Medicine-Milwaukee. Discussions are underway to
explore the potential for further research collaborations and to
establish a rural post graduate family medicine training program.
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Mexico
During the 2005-2006 year the partnership between the Center for
Global health and the University of Guadalajara at CUALTOS developed in
breadth and scope to include activities in medicine, nursing and
veterinary medicine. In the field of medicine, Dr. Mario Salguero, an
exchange scholar, came to UW for one year to collaborate in the area of
alternative and complementary medicine. Dr. Salguero gave a Global
Health Seminar and led a global health field course in Mexico for a
group of medical students. This course will be the foundation for a
future course that could be offered on an annual basis or as often as
demand warrants. In the area of veterinary medicine, a video-conference
led by Chris Olson, Barney Easterday and others, was held among scholars
at the two institutions to identify common research interests. Efforts
are underway to place an exchange scholar in veterinary medicine in
Marshfield, WI to work collaborative with veterinarians, staff of the
Marshfield Clinic and a supervisor from UW Madison.
Video-conferences were also held in the field of Nursing. Led by Rachel
Rodriguez, they addressed topics of domestic violence and community and
health system responses. As a result Dr. Rodriguez was invited to visit
the Guadalajara campus and provided collaborative assistance on
community-based research related to domestic violence. Dr. Yolanda
Garza, also of UW, accompanied her on the trip. Together they made
presentations about domestic violence and sexual assault. With the team
in Guadalajara they developed an action plan in both areas. Nursing
representatives from the University of Guadalajara will visit Madison in
August 2006 to learn about the kinds of services that can be offered and
to continue the exchange.
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Thailand
Professors Connie Kraus (Pharmacy), Chris Olsen (Veterinary
Medicine), Jonathan Patz (SMPH), and Tom Yuill (Veterinary Medicine)
visited Thailand from May 14-24, 2006. The main purposes for this visit
were to receive feedback and critique on an interdisciplinary, elective
course being developed to teach students at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison about public health and tropical disease in Thailand
and to explore the feasibility of creating public health field
experiences in Thailand to complement the course.
Most of the institutions visited were interested in various forms of
collaboration, but in particular, the Faculties of Public Health and
Tropical Medicine of Mahidol University are interested in exploring
collaboration with our group to assist in the development of course
content and to potentially participate in teaching. Additionally, it
appears very likely that an existing rural health training facility and
program associated with the Faculty of Public Health could accommodate
UW students for a public health field experience.
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Uganda
CGH activities in Uganda included educational and research initiatives
described above. These include the Health and Disease in Uganda course;
the USAID infectious diseases proposal; expanded research activities by
Dr. James Ntambi and Professor Linda Baumann on diabetes; and training
of Ugandan health professionals to care for people with HIV/AIDS by Dr.
Frank Graziano.
The
CGH hosted an international meeting of ‘Friends of Uganda’ at the HSLC
in March 2006 to organize efforts among North American health
professionals to strengthen primary health care education and human
resources for health in Uganda and East Africa. Attendees included Dr.
Sam Luboga, Makerere University College of Health Sciences Associate
Dean for Medical Education, and faculty from the Universities of British
Columbia, California, Harvard, several non-governmental organizations
and more than a dozen UW faculty and staff |
