- Community, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogEducating surgeons has been a life-long endeavor for AAMC’s Chair of the Department of Surgery Adrian Park, MD. So when he discovered an organization that focuses on teaching surgeons in Africa, he knew he’d found his calling. Having spent his middle school and high school years in Africa, Dr. Park has a fondness for the continent and a deep appreciation for the challenges of establishing quality surgical care in some of the world’s poorest and most remote locations. As a member of the Pan African Association of Christian Surgeons (PAACS), Dr. Park has spent more than 15 years helping to develop high-quality, rigorous surgical residency programs to train African surgeons in more than a half dozen countries. “Our surgical residency training programs are five year programs, with all of the validations and certifications that train African surgeons with standards that we’d expect back here,” Dr. Park says. Often, when young African men and women come to the West to train, they either stay or they return to the capital city in their home country which serves only a select population. This leaves the more remote areas of Africa without adequate surgical care. The residency programs Dr. Park is helping to build are training Africans in Africa where they will be able to serve their countrymen who need them most. As the current president of PAACS, Dr. Park says the most inspiring moments have been those spent with the African doctors he trains. “Some of them have had to literally take their families across countries, through jungles and civil wars at risk of life and limb to get this training. By the time they come to us, they’ve been through so much. English may be their fourth or fifth language. Imagine learning medicine in your fourth or fifth language,” remarks Dr. Park. Dr. Park says they’ve established 11 programs in countries such as Gabon, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Niger. They plan to graduate more than 20 surgeons a year by 2025 or 2030. That’s a large number since some sub-Saharan countries currently have fewer than 20 general surgeons in total. Dr. Park says that his experience with PAACS has been the ultimate expression of the “teaching a man to fish” parable. “Developing these training programs has a sustainable effect on the access to and the delivery of quality surgical care in the most remote and underserved parts of Africa,”Dr. Park says.
- Community, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogJessie Paltell, RN, Becca Burnett, BSN, RN, and Steve Roy, patient care technician, recently returned from Uganda, where they volunteered their time as medical professionals with a church group. The village where we pitched our tents for the work week was in the Kole District of Northern Uganda. During our time there, we provided medical services and distributed eye glasses, mosquito nets, soccer balls, and other necessities such as Bibles, clothing, hand-knitted hats, sunglasses, toothbrushes, tennis shoes, bicycles and a huge water filtration system to be used by the families in the surrounding villages. Our medical clinic was nothing fancy—far from any medical facilities or clinics we have around here. We used two rooms in the old school building to set up our triage, clinic, and pharmacy areas. Our triage and clinic “stations” were school desks positioned throughout the rooms. Our pharmacy was set up out of cardboard boxes and plastic trunks, with plastic bags for distribution of medications. Every day, families lined up, hundreds at a time, to wait in line to be seen. By some miracle, we were able to treat 3,039 people over four days. We were able to bandage wounds, drain infected cysts, diagnose skin rashes, provide medications for malaria, worms, pain, viruses, and STDs, treat burn victims, and so much more. Every night we played soccer with the kids in the surrounding villages using soccer balls we brought with us to hand out to them. The toys they were accustomed to included empty water bottles for sword fighting and rocks for soccer and kickball-type games. Seeing their faces light up when we handed them soccer balls was a once-in-a-lifetime experience – that was true joy! We were able to make a difference while we were in Uganda. We healed those who were sick, bandaged wounds, provided necessary medications. But furthermore, we were able to experience the amazing places and build relationships with the beautiful people of Uganda, Africa.
- Orthopedics, Senior Care, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogFor more than thirty years, Dick Carey has spent his free time underwater. The 76-year-old from Severna Park conducted oyster surveys in the Chesapeake Bay for decades and has been a volunteer scuba diver for the National Aquarium since 1982. Now he owns a farm in West Virginia and hopes to raise a few cattle. A man like Dick doesn’t have time for the knee problems that had been starting to slow him down. After years of managing his pain Dick decided on a total knee replacement with Paul King, MD, and he’s once again unstoppable. My knee had been going for a long time. I had some arthroscopic surgery in 2004 and then I was getting cortisone shots. It just got to where I couldn’t continue doing that because it just didn’t fit my lifestyle. I scuba dive, I have a farm, and with a bad knee that you can only stand on for less than two hours in a day just wasn’t hacking it. Before the surgery, I was favoring my right leg. When the weather was warmer, I was repairing the fence in some areas and I didn’t finish because within two hours of going out to work on it, I was back sitting down the rest of the day because now my back started to hurt. I was seeing a pain doctor and he wanted to give me a block in my back because he said I had a pinched nerve. I didn’t want anyone messing with my back, so, I talked with my personal doctor. He urged me to wait until after the knee surgery. Nearly seven weeks after the operation I went up to the aquarium and did a special event. You don’t know how good that was. I didn’t want to give up the aquarium. Soon after, I left for the farm out in West Virginia to continue working on the fence. I’m glad I waited because I haven’t had any problems since the knee replacement. You have no idea how much better it is. So with the farm, the diving and my lifestyle, it’s pretty important to have a knee that works.
- Men's Health, Women's Health, Pediatrics, Uncategorized, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogPasadena residents Cristina and Matt knew they were in good hands, but they’ve seen more of the inside of a hospital than any new parent should. When their eleven week old son, Beckett, was diagnosed with a lung infection caused by RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), the Pediatric Department became their second home for seven days. When Beckett got RSV, he was extremely ill with a high fever, coughing and sneezing. When we realized he was going to be there for a little bit longer than we thought, Nurse Tim attached a little sound machine to the crib in the room. He also gave us a fleece blanket to make Beckett’s stay a little more comfortable. One of the lead nurses, Melanie, also provided a bouncy seat, Beckett’s favorite, as well as some toys and a rocking chair for us to help comfort him. They are absolutely amazing people with huge hearts. You can tell they all love their jobs and are passionate about children. In addition to Beckett being sick, his father and I were too. The incredible part is that the kind nurses supported us too. We traded shifts with him so we could get rest to be healthy for him. My husband would come at dinner to trade and the nurses would keep an eye on Beckett so Matt and I could grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria together. They have a room called the “nourishment center.” It’s a way for parents to get things like juices, yogurts, bagels, and crackers to avoid having to travel to the cafeteria multiple times—a way to feel a sense of home. Having Beckett so incredibly ill was the scariest thing we’ve gone through, especially being first time parents, but having the doctors and nurses in a pediatric setting was a true blessing. We couldn’t have survived the week without their support. We trusted our newborn was in wonderful caring hands. I also have to say that Pediatrics Department is probably the most adorable place on the face of the earth. It has a whole nautical sailor theme. It’s so cute. If I were a kid it definitely wouldn’t be as scary going there.
- Men's Health, Women's Health, Heart Care, Patient StoriesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogOne year after suffering a stroke, 47-year-old Ray Torreon says the AAMC Stroke Club has played an important role in helping him recover from and learn to adjust to life after stroke. At those early stroke club meetings . . . I didn’t intend to, but I broke down and cried. The support I got from them lifted my spirits, gave me hope. That’s what the stroke club does. The volunteers that run it from the hospital are a great resource and the educational topics are helpful in terms of learning about stroke, about medication, therapy, the division of rehab services and what’s out there as far as getting a job. But as important as that it, the fellowship of having people who have been on this same journey is what I needed. Other stroke patients understand how alienating and isolating it is— how alone you are even if you have people around you. Everyone’s stroke is different, but everyone in the stroke club has been depressed and has lost things and doesn’t know what the future holds for them. I was a Capitol Hill lobbyist. I was a sales person running a 12 million dollar store. My speech was my trade and someone listening to me now might say my speech is fine, but I’m struggling because I don’t have the fluency I once had. I have never in my entire life struggled for words. I could sell ice cream to Eskimos. I don’t feel that way now. Other stroke patients understand that. Even as everyone else says, “Oh, you look good, or you sound fine,” the stroke patient inwardly shakes his or her head and thinks, “No, I don’t feel fine.” I’m not recovered fully. I have deficits and even though I appear fine to you, I feel sad that I’ve lost some abilities that I know I used to have.” You mourn for the person you were. In the stroke club you come to realize that they’ve had the same journey. There are people with severe aphasia. There are people who were in a wheelchair in the beginning and now they’re walking with a cane or a walker. That’s good to see. Over time, we’ve sort of developed a core group, and we want to expand this to really touch as many other stroke patients as possible. We’re looking for active members and we’re planning more activities outside the stroke club just to socialize and help people along the path to finding a new life. A stroke literally blows up your life, and you have to put the pieces back together. The other members of the stroke club and I would like to help survivors put their lives back together more quickly than they can alone. To learn more about the Stroke Support Group contact Laurie Neely, physical therapist, or Jennifer Irving, speech-language pathologist or by phone: 443-481-6872. Visit our askAAMC to find out more about the support groups and services we offer to all members of our community.
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