Surgical and cancer screening capacity building
Location(s): Kenya; Tanzania
Description
Affiliation with FAME clinic in Karatu, Tanzania. Helping FAME develop surgical capacity, screening for breast and cervical cancer, management of injuries, online clinical consultation with academic centers, maternal and child health,and other priorities set by FAME staff. The program hosts doctor educators, and features teaching tools from UCSF that included videos, knot tying boards, suture practice materials. Domestically I volunteer with the UCSF Department of Surgery Surgical Skills Lab for residents, intending to use these techniques to teach the staff at FAME in Tanzania.
I am on a team from Preventing Cervical Cancer (PINCC), an organization that trains health care workers to learn the skills of cervical cancer screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions in Homa Bay, Kenya. PINCC has launched 40 programs, now self-sustaining worldwide. At Homa Bay, we have 11 trainees. Following one week of an intense curriculum , they practice the skills for 6 months. PINCC returns for one week for further levels of procedure training. Then again 6 months later for one week for additional skills and knowledge validation. If all achieve competence and sustainability, then PINCC donates the equipment and is available for further mentoring.