“Theirs is unbearable pain: mothers and fathers recounting their helplessness to alleviate the hunger of their children – hunger often compounded by the rigors of malaria, breathlessness of pneumonia, and lethargy of prolonged malnutrition. I scramble to offer assistance, but there is no end to their need. The difficulty is knowing how to help […]
The Joplin Tornado of May, 2011 on caught many of us well-intentioned but unprepared to respond effectively. I, for one, felt a deep sense of pain over the catastrophe unfolding just 100 miles a way. But I also realized frustration that at such late notice there was little I could do to assist.
Today’s citizenry and healthcare profession students are more keenly aware of the needs of marginalized people. I’ve noticed how educational institutions are rapidly developing curriculum and field experiences to match community and student expectations. As a result of such demand, however, health educators are grappling with how to best provide effective, relevant international healthcare
This month INMED introduces refinements to the INMED Diploma is International Medicine & Public Health – DIM&PH. For some time select educational institutions have offered diplomas in tropical medicine and hygiene. INMED and myself have carefully looked at such programs with a passion for how the training could be improved. The major deficiencies of
“My boy, Tomas, is urinating pure blood!” Her speech was pressured and rapid fire. “He’s been hemorrhaging for days. Is my boy going to die? ” The anxious mother lifted her son, moving the pool of accumulating blood from the floor to her lap. The young, listless, glassy eyes of Tomas met mine, and
As a medical student I dreamed of sharpening my skills on behalf of the world’s most poor. I dreamed of attending the esteemed John’s Hopkins School of Public Health, taking the diploma course at the London or Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. What escaped my notice at the time was that I
What curriculum do you use to complement global health classes, international electives, study abroad, or even cross-cultural competency? Unfortunately, most universities and residency programs have little to offer beyond thick textbooks. For the last year, Micah Flint and I have been creating for INMED a new series of online, self-paced courses covering the major
In May INMED posed the question, “Are short-term medical missions (STMM) effective?” and also raised related issues of ethics and cultural relevance. Responses from you the readers were plentiful and absorbing. You said that we should recognize both the pros and cons of such service: Advantages for our mission hospital are: Coverage for
Each year some 5,000 healthcare teams depart the US to service in a developing country – usually for 7-10 days duration. A growing number of authorities are questioning the efficacy of this enormous outlay of time and resources, posing the questions like, “Do short-term medical missions actually contribute to improving the overall health of
“In Haiti over eight days we saw 900 patients, treating infections and diarrhea. The people are desperately poor and were so very grateful for the medical care.“ This young physician spoke with enthusiasm. But then his voice turned somber, describing how the police arrived to investigate the credentials of their medical missions team. Practicing