Three weeks today I will arrive in Haiti!
Last week I contacted Health Partners International (HPI) Canada to arrange to purchase some medications to take to Haiti. I sent HPI a list of medications in short supply at the Project Medishare Hospital. HPI obtains medications from Canadian pharmaceutical companies and offers the medications at wholesale cost to physicians who volunteer abroad. They have helped me in the past in Nicaragua.
I rec'd a schedule with a list of volunteer physicians who will be in Haiti during December. Friday, the day I arrive, there will be two pediatricians on the service, but they are scheduled to leave the next day. Presumably we will have time for Changeover Rounds. A key component of good care is the transfer of knowledge, plans, and instructions to the new team. So far, I am the only pediatrician on the list for the first two weeks.
I made a list of the common medical problems that I will encounter and I've been reading and studying these topics. I might have handled most of the problems before, but I don't manage tropical disease on a regular basis, and a refresher course is always helpful. I condense most of the topics into blogs. Reading, making notes, and then preparing a blog from pertinent material helps me learn a topic. The blog serves as an online resource if I need to remember something. My topics on the study list for the next week include anemia in Haiti, filariasis, worms and parasites, and the status of immunizations in the country. Over the next week I hope to post blogs with some of the information I learn about these topics.
Lists help me organize my thoughts and lately I have been in list mode. Anyone who knows me understands that I am always in list mode, so what I really mean is that my lists now have lists.
Last week I contacted Health Partners International (HPI) Canada to arrange to purchase some medications to take to Haiti. I sent HPI a list of medications in short supply at the Project Medishare Hospital. HPI obtains medications from Canadian pharmaceutical companies and offers the medications at wholesale cost to physicians who volunteer abroad. They have helped me in the past in Nicaragua.
I rec'd a schedule with a list of volunteer physicians who will be in Haiti during December. Friday, the day I arrive, there will be two pediatricians on the service, but they are scheduled to leave the next day. Presumably we will have time for Changeover Rounds. A key component of good care is the transfer of knowledge, plans, and instructions to the new team. So far, I am the only pediatrician on the list for the first two weeks.
I made a list of the common medical problems that I will encounter and I've been reading and studying these topics. I might have handled most of the problems before, but I don't manage tropical disease on a regular basis, and a refresher course is always helpful. I condense most of the topics into blogs. Reading, making notes, and then preparing a blog from pertinent material helps me learn a topic. The blog serves as an online resource if I need to remember something. My topics on the study list for the next week include anemia in Haiti, filariasis, worms and parasites, and the status of immunizations in the country. Over the next week I hope to post blogs with some of the information I learn about these topics.
Lists help me organize my thoughts and lately I have been in list mode. Anyone who knows me understands that I am always in list mode, so what I really mean is that my lists now have lists.
Community water outlet. Photo from March 2010 trip.
Haiti ranked 147th out of 147 in a Water Poverty Index study.
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