Medicine, Hopscotch, and Hope for Syrian Refugees
​BY MECCA MADHUN, DO, & SHAZA AOUTHMANY, MDWe pulled up to the northern Lebanese-Syrian border after a two-and-a-half-hour ride from Beirut across bumpy dirt roads, and heard little voices singing, “Ahlan bil, dakatra!” (Welcome, doctors!)We were dressed in our Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) vests with stethoscopes around our necks, and made our way to the clinic, long alleys of white tarps covering tin walls and ceilings. It was barren and dark; we left the door open and set up our clinic space near the light from the door. We had six plastic chairs, a small plastic side table, an otoscope, alcohol pads,...
Source: Going Global - April 24, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs

Bringing Emergency Medicine to Eswatini
​BY ADERONKE SUSAN AKAPO, DO; KATHLEEN ANNE ROCCO, MD; EDWARD KAKISH, DO; & KRIS BRICKMAN, MDEswatini, known as Swaziland until April 2018, is a small South African country approximately the size of New Jersey. It has 1.3 million people, and is bordered by South Africa and Mozambique.The country primarily comprises rural tribal areas with two major cities, Manzini and Mbabane, in the central portion of the country. Eswatini holds the unfortunate distinction of having the highest HIV rate in the world—approximately 26 percent of its population. Emergency medicine within this small country is clearly in its developme...
Source: Going Global - December 21, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs

Providing Care at 10,000 Feet
Going on a medical mission with the Himalayan Health Exchange to the Himachal Pradesh region of India allowed me to see a part of the world that I had never experienced before. The patient population that we were seeing had very little access, if any, to medical care throughout the year. We had to travel on foot to their villages to provide care because of their remote location. But the trip was quite unforgettable—we spent all our off days hiking through the Himalayas, had night-time views of the Milky Way, and ate more Indian food than we could have ever imagined.The flight from Delhi to Leh was incredible. We could se...
Source: Going Global - February 27, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs

The Joy and Challenge of Simple Medicine in India
​BY KATE BANKS, MDThe Himalayan Health Exchange (HHE) is an organization that assembles volunteers and health care providers from all over the world to deliver care in underserved areas in northern India. I had the amazing opportunity in my second year of residency to spend a month delivering medical care with HHE in the beautiful inner Himalayan mountains. The month was full of exploring, trekking, camping, learning, doctoring, and personal and professional growth.The clinics were scattered throughout different areas in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Our convoy of interpreters, cooks, volunteers, and health care profess...
Source: Going Global - December 12, 2017 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs

EDs in Different Parts of the World but the Same Stories
​BY TIM DEPP, MD​I spent two weeks in India and another two weeks at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Minnesota during my global health elective month. It was a great time to reflect on sustainability in developing world medicine and on my medical education and career goals.​Emergency medicine in India is still in its infancy. Some might say it's only just been conceived, still waiting to be born. India is growing incredibly in numerous sectors, and several universities, including George Washington University (GWU), have partnered with established hospitals there to grow the specialty. After completi...
Source: Going Global - December 1, 2017 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs

Building Self-Sustainable Health Care in Uganda
​BY JK FALLIN, MD​I had the opportunity to travel an extraordinarily long distance to Uganda last year on a mission with One World Heath, a nonprofit that aims to provide affordable health care to communities in need. The trip had a rather disjointed start because Delta forgot that they needed a computer to fly their airplane. After this minor hiccup, we embarked on our journey across the Atlantic, then Europe and Africa before landing in Entebbe, Uganda.Entebbe is about 20 miles southwest of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, but there is in reality little demarcation between the two towns. It's located along beauti...
Source: Going Global - August 9, 2017 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs

Expanding Access to Ultrasound in Tanzania
​BY CHLOE MCCOY, MDI knew I wanted a global health experience that offered the opportunity to have an impact on patients but also on the health care infrastructure and local physicians. This led me to research trips that involved teaching opportunities, specifically ones involving ultrasound.As a resident at Palmetto Health Richland, we learn how to use ultrasound in our daily practice to make quick and accurate decisions about clinical care. Our program's emphasis on its use made ultrasound a standard-of-care component of emergency medicine for me over the past several years. Teaching ultrasound seemed like a great oppo...
Source: Going Global - May 5, 2017 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs

How the Other Half Lives in Haiti
​BY TIM DEPP, MD​Arriving in Port-au-Prince was like walking into another world. It was hot. The roads were dusty. In spite of reports of aid money being siphoned off and how little progress was being made in rebuilding, the parts of the city we drove through appeared improved since the earthquake. My first impressions of the city were positive, especially considering what I was expecting.Despite Haiti's long and difficult history of slavery, revolution, poverty, violent dictators, overwhelming debt, failed development projects, deforestation, and natural disasters, including the earthquake of 2010 and the cholera epid...
Source: Going Global - March 3, 2017 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs

Volunteering with a Little Fun and Holiday Mixed In
​BY LUKE HUSBY, DOOn a cool Monday afternoon, the plane to Dulles, then Frankfurt, and ultimately Bangalore took off. I landed two calendar days later in a place about 40°F warmer, with a weather forecast of "smoke."I was greeted by a driver who only spoke Tamil. He took me to my hotel room less than a mile from the hospital where I was volunteering through congested traffic that held no regard for traffic lines or signs. The ED in Bangalore is essentially a 10-bed department, divided into a high-acuity and low-acuity sections.The high-acuity section of the ED.An entire herd of students flocked to see one pati...
Source: Going Global - February 3, 2017 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs