2016 was a year of ups and downs for our work in Haiti. Medical schools, residency programs, and public teaching hospitals were interrupted for weeks due to political unrest, the threat of Zika became a reality, and Hurricane Matthew devastated the southwest of Haiti. Despite these challenges, HME, along with its Haitian and North American partners, continues to work to improve the medical education system in Haiti, and we are excited to unveil exciting new projects for 2017.
In 2016, 48 Haitian physicians and nurses were trained in Comprehensive Advanced Life Support (CALS) in partnership with Global CALS. We plan to train 100 more in 2017. The CALS approach is specifically designed for use in low-resource areas like rural Haiti, where some medications and equipment are not readily available. This course is an example of our “training the trainers” approach: increasing our impact by empowering those who teach others. One well-trained, well-supported Haitian nurse or doctor can touch the lives of thousands.
As we enter 2017, we are resuming our six-year long momentum of Wednesday morning lectures. These lectures provide Haitian medical and nursing students an opportunity participate in a remote presentation by a medical educational professional in the US or Canada via Vidyo. As a memorial to the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12th, 2010, our first “lecture” for 2017 was a discussion between medical professionals on Wednesday, January 11th lead by Dr, Brian Remillard on the topic of delivering medical care in Haiti.Dr. Remillard completed his medical studies at Harvard Medical School, Residency in Internal Medicine at New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston, and his nephrology fellowship at Beth Israel Hospital, Boston. Dr. Remillard is the Section Chief of Nephrology & Hypertension at Dartmouth-Hitchcock in New Hampshire. He has been extensively involved with educational initiatives in the HME Project, especially with the Wednesday Morning Lecture series and is the chair of HME advisory board. His lecture will encompass his experience in Haiti during the quake.
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