“Chris Gifford spent 2 weeks in Muteghene for a training course called ALSO – Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics. He took the instructor portion first and then taught the course to 30 medical students and midwives the following week.” In so doing, Dr. Gifford – on a two-year medical service stent in Cameroon, West Africa – is expressing two of the highest values in today’s approach to international health development: skill multiplication and sustainability.
Trace the story of Chris’ life and you can understand how he came to embrace such values. Originally from Wichita, Kansas, I met Chris when he was medical student at Kansas City University. In 2012, Chris took advantage of the INMED International Medicine & Public Health Course, and then complete his INMED Diploma in 2013 with his supervised service-learning experience at Baptist Medical Center in Ghana. All the while, Chris, a man of deep Christian faith, was developing a clearer vision of life beyond his three-year family medicine residency.
This vision became reality on the fall of 2016, when Chris, his wife Ashley, and their two children moved to Cameroon to serve at Banso and Mbingo Hospitals through World Medical Mission. Would you like to follow their progress in international health development, and occasionally send an encouraging wave? Please just add your email at Chris and Ashley’s blog page: https://careinthevalley.blogspot.com/.