KP Global Health Blog

Tibetan Delek Hospital – Jessica deJarnette, MD

Written by Jessica deJarnette, MD, PGY-2 at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Ob/Gyn Residency Program while on Global Health rotation at Tibetan Delek Hospital in Dharamsala, India in July 2017.

“Zero TB Tibet”

“Despite significant improvement in TB situation in the community, TB still continues to remain one of the serious health concerns particularly in Tibetan schools. This project could not be more timely, given the rising rate of TB and MDR-TB incidence in our schools.” –Kalon Ngodup Tsering Dept of Education

This past August I had the pleasure of spending a month volunteering in Delek Hospital, a charitable organization started in 1971 for the Tibetan refugees fleeing to India after the Chinese occupation. Being non-citizens, many of the refugees found themselves without a way to get healthcare through the public system. Delek Hospital was founded as a way to meet this gap through charitable contributions and a grant from the Central Tibetan Authority or CTA. It has grown from its humble beginnings of a small clinic to a 40-bed hospital offering comprehensive adult, pediatric and prenatal care medicine along with a tuberculosis treatment center, emergency room and radiology, dental, and laboratory departments. I was so

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Faith in Practice/Obras Sociales del Hermano Santo Pedro – Alexandra (Jana) Freeman, MD

Written by Alexandra (Jana) Freeman, MD, PGY-4 at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Ob/Gyn Residency Program while on Global Health rotation at Faith in Practice/Obras Sociales del Hermano Santo Pedro in Antigua, Guatemala in May 2017.

Sunday was triage day.  We unpacked all of our surgical equipment, set up the operating rooms, and saw over 30 patients who had travelled many hours on foot and by bus for surgical evaluation and treatment. Some could not afford the operation in their home village, most simply could not access care.  We organized our week and scheduled the most complex cases at the beginning of the week so we could watch them over several days post operatively: older women with complete uterine prolapse, young women with cervical dysplasia, pelvic masses, many with

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Da Nang Orthopedic & Rehabilitation Hospital – Hamad Zafar, DPM

Written by Hamad Zafar, DPM, PGY-2 at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Podiatric Surgery Residency Program while on Global Health rotation at Da Nang Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital in Da Nang, Vietnam in June 2017.

Every year the current second year Podiatric surgical residents at the Kaiser South Bay Consortium travel to Da Nang, Vietnam for an one week mission trip at the Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital in Da Nang, Vietnam.

Being a second year resident, this year it was my turn to travel with my co-residents Dr. Aarron Flowers and Dr. Eric Shi to Vietnam. Leading us on the trip was one of our attending from Kaiser San Leandro Dr. Glenn Weinraub, a veteran to this mission trip as this was his seventh trip in eight years. Also joining us on this trip were Catherine La and Cindy Lee, nurse anesthetist for Kaiser Fremont and San Leandro, and Dr. William Slikker, attending Orthopedic Hand Surgeon at Kaiser San Leandro.

We took off from San Francisco late Friday night on June 2nd and after 18 plus hours of travel we arrived at Da Nang International Airport early Sunday morning of June 4th. We lost a day due to the time difference but we were all excited to be in Vietnam.

We quickly settled into our hotel room and began preparations for clinic the following day. It also helped that the views from our hotel room and resort were…

   

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Da Nang Orthopedic & Rehabilitation Hospital – Barbara Adams, DPM

Written by Barbara Adams, DPM, PGY-3 at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Podiatric Surgery Program while on Global Health rotation at Da Nang Orthopedic & Rehabilitation Hospital in Da Nang, Vietnam in May-June 2017.

What a wonderful week in Da Nang, Vietnam! This foot/ankle-focused surgical trip was a unique combination of foreign exploration, exposure to rare pathology, and teamwork in the OR. I can’t wait to visit Da Nang Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital again in the future!

Exploring Da Nang, Vietnam

I had two weekends and several evenings to explore Da Nang and the surrounding area.  Some highlights were the

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Hospital de la Familia – Tuong Van Nguyen, MD

Written by Tuong Van Nguyen, MD, PGY-3 at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Obstetrics & Gynecology Program while on Global Health rotation at Hospital de la Familia in Nuevo Progreso, Guatemala in April-May 2017.

It began with a 6-hour red-eye flight to Guatemala City and then a 5-hour bus ride to the small town of Nuevo Progreso. You would see small shacks lined up along the road that were homes for families of five or more, amongst the luscious jungle spotted with mounds of litter. I thought that traveling abroad a few times, including medical mission trips to similar areas such as Nicaragua would make me acquainted to the setting, yet it ceases to give me a new perspective each time; a new experience, a new family, a new community and never ending knowledge. It revives the awareness and appreciation for life. But it also forces

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Cacha Medical Spanish Institute – Afton Chavez, MD

Written by Afton Chavez, MD, PGY-1 at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Internal Medicine Program while on Global Health rotation at Cacha Medical Spanish Institute in Riobamba, Ecuador in March 2017.

I highly recommend this global health elective.  In just a two-week period (8 days of Spanish classes), my medical Spanish improved significantly.  The teachers at the institute are very professional and are excellent at teaching Spanish.  My professor had a degree in Linguistics and was incredibly

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Labor and Delivery, Traditional Birth Attendant Training, and Women’s Health – Sarah Simmons, MD

Written by Sarah Simmons, MD, PGY-2 at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Obstetrics & Gynecology Program while on Global Health rotation at Funbichoco/Hospital San Francisco de Asis, E.S.E., in Quibdo, Choco, Colombia in January-February 2017.

I had been to Colombia before, but under much different circumstances as a tourist visiting the country’s largest tourist attractions of Bogota and Cartagena. This time I flew into Quibdo, a small city of 100,000 inhabitants that many Colombians have never been to, let alone foreigners.

Quibdo is humid, densely packed, surrounded by thick rainforests, and located near the Pacific Coast. It is separated from more major cities by muddy, unpaved roads and a network of rivers. Quibdo is located in the poorest state of Colombia (Choco) and is inhabited largely by Afro-Caribbeans, although there is a minority indigenous population who live on the city’s outskirts and neighboring villages reachable by boat.

Our first week was spent working shifts on Labor and Delivery at San Francisco Hospital working side by side with local Family Medicine and OB/GYN physicians delivering babies, triaging consults, and rounding on antepartum patients. Particularly unique cases included

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Hospital de la Familia – Maria Martin, MD

Written by Maria Martin, MD, PGY-4 at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Obstetrics & Gynecology Program while on Global Health rotation at Hospital de la Familia in Nuevo Progreso, Guatemala in March-April 2017.

My trip to Nuevo Progreso in Guatemala with Hospital de la Familia was amazing! I could not have asked for a more inspirational and fulfilling global health experience. The team of doctors, nurses, translators and staff was exemplary. Everyone worked cohesively to evaluate numerous patients in clinic and perform >200 surgeries during our 6 day surgical mission. The surgical mission included Ophthlamalogy, General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, ENT and Gynecology.

Each day started with over 200

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Hospital de la Familia – Steven Micucci, MD

Written by Steven Micucci, MD, PGY-2 at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Otolaryngology Program while on Global Health rotation at Hospital de la Familia in Nuevo Progreso, Guatemala in March-April 2017.

The moment we stepped off the bus at Hospital de la Familia, I knew that I would have an experience that I would treasure forever. The hospital was in a small town, tucked within the mountains of Guatemala, and was seemingly as remote a place you could find in Central America. As the bus approached, the townspeople set off fireworks and

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