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Celebrating Leadership in Global Health

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gh awards

Do you know someone who actively contributes to the global health community at Dalhousie? This can come in many forms, including:

–          Demonstrated leadership in global health

–          Work with marginalized communities

–          Engagement in global health research

–          Mentorship in global health

–          Promotion, development and enhancement of global health at Dalhousie

The Global Health Office would like to give them recognition for their hard work! Each year, the GHO presents three global health awards, one each to a deserving student, resident and faculty member.

The Dr. Ronald Stewart Award for Student Leadership in Global Health is given to a student of Dalhousie Medical School or in the faculties of health professions or dentistry, who has demonstrated leadership in global health and a commitment to improving the health of marginalized communities during their time at Dalhousie.

This award honours Dr. Stewart’s personal, professional and educational support and dedication to global health, and the advancement of social capital worldwide. Dr. Stewart, a former provincial Minister of Health and Order of Canada recipient, has been enriching students’ experiences at Dalhousie Medical School for many years as a popular and accomplished educator, past director of the Medical Humanities program and a key champion for global health education.

The Dr. TJ (Jock) Murray Award for Resident Leadership in Global Health is in recognition of a resident at the Dalhousie Medical School who demonstrates an ongoing commitment and leadership in global health.

Dr. Murray is a former dean of Dalhousie Medical School and professor of medicine (neurology), as well as a founding director of the Dalhousie Multiple Sclerosis Research Unit. He held the first Chair of Medical Humanities at Dalhousie.

Dr. Murray has appointments in the Department of Medicine, the Division of Medical Education and Medical Humanities, and has cross-appointments in the Departments of History, Family Medicine and Community Health and Epidemiology. He was elected a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and he is an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is an advocate for the values within global health.

The Dr. John Savage Memorial Award for Faculty Leadership in Global Health recognizes an outstanding humanitarian contribution to global health by a Dalhousie Medical School faculty member.

Dr. Savage was a former mayor of Dartmouth, premier of Nova Scotia and a family physician. He was also a champion of the need to promote healthy communities worldwide and had a long-standing commitment to global health projects in Africa with the Nova Scotia Gambia Association (NSGA). Dr. Savage also served on the advisory committee to the GHO at Dalhousie University.

To nominate a deserving candidate for any one of these awards, please complete the online nomination form and submit the additional required documents (CV, nomination letter) to the Global Health Office by email at gho@dal.ca. The deadline for nominations is March 1, 2016.

For more information on what we do at the Global Health Office, please visit our Website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Residents blog from Tanzania

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Dalhousie Residents in Tanzania

Dalhousie Residents in Tanzania

The Global Health Office would like to highlight the blog that Drs. Justine Fair and Phillip Urness are writing. Justine and Phillip are completing a global health elective at the Tanzania Training Centre for International Health (TTCIH).  Here is an excerpt from their experiences:

Pediatrics: We spent last week on the pediatric ward. They have 5 different rooms each with about 12 beds. Room 1 is where the sickest kids go. Room 2- Malaria room. Room 3 – Diarrhea room. Room 4- where sick kids go when they are getting better and Room 5 – Malnutrition room. Our first two days I was convinced all the children in this entire country must have malaria as almost every child was positive. We saw a 9 month old who weighed only 9 lbs – diagnosed with HIV for the first time. We saw cerebral malaria, where the child had been unconcious for 2 days (but still not ICU material – or intubation for that matter!). Phil did a lumbar puncture on a 4 year old boy with suspected meningitis with such high pressure that once the dura was punctured the CSF came flying out, nearly hitting the wall. I was beginning to think the worst until I spent a day in Room 4 and saw that the children actually do get better as they were smiling and playing – thanks to the miracles of IV quinine and ceftriaxone!”

To read more please go to: http://medtanzania.blogspot.com/

Dalhousie University residents learning about tropical diseases first-hand in rural Tanzania

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Drs. Justine Fair and Phillip Urness are currently in Ifakara, Tanzania for four weeks completing a global health elective program at the Tanzania Training Centre for International Health (TTCIH). Dr. Fair was recently interviewed and here is what she had to say…

GHO – What draws you to working overseas?  What draws you to working in Tanzania?

Dr. Justine Fair

Dr. Justine Fair – Working oversees allows us to gain experience in a setting that just isn’t available in Canada. We will learn how medicine is delivered in a resource-limited setting, and learn first-hand how to treat diseases that are common throughout much of the world.  Though we rarely see them in Canada, malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV have an incredibly high global burden of disease.  Dalhousie has a history of sending faculty and medical students to Tanzania.  After hearing from many about their incredible experiences, we decided that Tanzania would be a great place to experience and practice medicine in a developing country.

GHO – What are the 3 things you are most looking forward to about your upcoming Global Health elective?

Dr. Justine Fair

  1. Getting to meet our colleagues and patients in Ifakara, and experiencing Tanzanian culture.
  2. Exploring the beautiful country of Tanzania – we are excited to see the amazing wildlife of the Serengeti and to go scuba diving off Zanzibar.
  3. Learning to treat diseases that we have only read about – malaria, tuberculosis, etc.

GHO – What are the 3 things you are most looking forward to about your upcoming Global Health elective?

  1. Getting to meet our colleagues and patients in Ifakara, and experiencing Tanzanian culture.
  2. Exploring the beautiful country of Tanzania – we are excited to see the amazing wildlife of the Serengeti and to go scuba diving off Zanzibar.
  3. Learning to treat diseases that we have only read about – malaria, tuberculosis, etc.

GHO – Can you name 3 challenges you expect to face in Tanzania?

Dr. Justine Fair

  1. Working with limited resources will be both challenging and frustrating at times, but hopefully we will learn that we can still make a difference with the resources we do have at hand.
  2. The language barrier will be quite a challenge.  Our Swahili phrase book will only help so much, we will have to rely on interpreters to communicate with our patients.
  3. Learning to navigate the differences in culture and our patient’s beliefs towards medicine.

For more information about our programs and partners please contact Said Msabaha, Program Coordinator at said.msabaha@dal.ca or by phone 902.494.1574. You can also visit our website and Facebook page (Dalhousie University Residents Without Borders) for further information and resources.

Building Capacity: Residents to Return Home to Rwanda

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Dr. Christian Mukwesi and Dr. Theoneste Mwumvaneza sit with Abena Amoako-Tuffour, coordinator of the Global Health Office of Anesthesia

Dr. Christian Mukwesi, Abena Amoaka-Tuffour (GHOA) and Dr. Theoneste Mwumvaneza

The 1994 Rwandan genocide was one of history’s most horrible events, killing about a million people and leaving the country in disarray for years after. Following the devastation, there was only one anesthesiologist for the entire population.  Clearly there was a medical crisis that needed to be addressed, and this was the impetus for the partnership between Rwanda and the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society International Education Foundation (CAS IEF).

In 2006, Canadian anesthesiologists began teaching in Rwanda so that the country could build capacity in training their own anesthesiologists. As of 2011, there are ten Rwandan anesthesiologists residing in the country who not only practice but also teach other anesthesiology residents.

In 2010, the program sent two Rwandan residents to Halifax to complete part of their residency at Dalhousie University. The residents work closely with the Global Health Office of Anesthesia, whose creation was supported by the Global Health Office at Dalhousie.

This year, Dr. Theoneste Mwumvaneza, a fourth-year resident at the National University of Rwanda, and Dr. Christian Mukwesi, a third-year resident, are at Dalhousie for the six-month residency program.

Despite struggling through the cold Canadian weather, Dr. Christian Mukwesi has found his experiences here to be enriching:

GHO: What are your thoughts now that you are finishing up your residency at Dalhousie?

Dr. Christian Mukwesi: It has been a pleasure to do this 6 months-elective at Dalhousie University. I first thank CASIEF for its will to strengthen the anesthesia postgraduate program in Rwanda through the strong partnership which has been built for these past 5 years.

GHO: How was your experience in Halifax?

Dr. Christian Mukwesi: I personally enjoyed my time in Halifax, especially in the operating rooms and in Intensive Care Unit where I discovered an implemented and coordinated system of working that included team work, high level of communication and maintaining standards. It was again in these areas I found people who could welcome and apply any change in the system that could improve a lifestyle of health providers or can benefit a patient.

GHO: Did you find it cold?

Dr. Christian Mukwesi: The weather is a big subject in all Canada and was difficult for me, but it was amazing to see how Canadians are prepared to deal with the cold, the storm in the way of dressing clothes, of building their houses. This kind of thinking was applied before me in the hospital that the health providers were prepared everyday to deal with easy and difficult cases.

GHO: What are your thoughts on the program?

Dr. Christian Mukwesi: My overall impression from my 6 months of experience in Canada is favorable for I gained knowledge, excellent approaches, secrets and good techniques from different anesthesiologists I had the opportunity to work with.
Anesthesia team and its administrative board showed respect for me, providing for my needs and treating me as equals, that I am deeply grateful for their kind of hospitality.

GHO: Did you find working here much different than in Rwanda?

Dr. Christian Mukwesi: One of my impressions when I started to work in the operating rooms at Victoria General hospital or Halifax Infirmary was to realize how different the west system is from our system, [which is} full of failures for many reasons. But, I believe that for someone who understands, failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.

GHO: What is your overall impression of the experience?

Dr. Christian Mukwesi: It was an opportunity to have a vision of what is done here with lots of resources and what will be done in the future for our region and think about making difference with few resources. Yes, we can.

The two residents will complete their Halifax placement by July, 2011. They will then take their new skills and experiences back to Rwanda, further building the country’s capacity in anesthesia.

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