The Medcan Naweza team including Dr. Michael Hawkes and Dr. Ed Bekeris and meets with the team at the Field Marsham Health Clinic during rounds
Jumbo from Kenya!
After a restful couple of days at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi, the team has arrived refreshed and ready to go at Fluorspar Mines, the first of our 2 sister clinics we’ll be visiting on this trip. It’s our 6th time here and we are eager to continue our work with our friends at the Field Marsham Health Clinic.
The team this time round includes (more information on previous trips can be found here)
- Dr. Michael - founding father of Naweza who has been on every trip since the inception. His background is pediatrics with specialties in HIV, malaria, global infectious disease and subtropical medicine.
- Dr. Ed – General practitioner
- Dr. Sidiqa – optometrist
- Dr. Paul Cohen - dermatologist
- Vanessa – nurse, heads up the complex care cases program we run remotely with the Kenyan clinics. She’ll be working with the community health workers equipping them with a tool kit they’ll use when educating their community on the risks of chronic disease.
We have quite a bit packed in our 5 days here, including:
- Didactic training and education focusing on chronic disease, peads, dermatology and optometry
- Cataract surgeries
- Lumps and bumps removals
- Further development of the Community Health Worker program
- Outeach to Simit on Thursday
Tomorrow we’ll begin as usual with rounds. Dr. Sidiqa will conduct the final screening for half of the cataract patients and begin training on the opthalmoscope which Naweza has donated to the clinic.
Vanessa will work with Helen and Allen, the Community Health Workers (CHWs). She’ll be presenting the “tool kit” she’s developed - something created after the CHWs requested to help educate the community on chronic disease. Later in the week she’ll be going with them into the community to test out the kit and further inform herself of the issues they are contending with.
We’ll also have the opportunity to conduct our bi-weekly Tuesday call between the Kenya clinic and Medcan in Toronto. This will be the first time we will make the call with Medcan doctors in both Kenya and Toronto simultaneously. The patients we’ll discuss are part of the Complex Care Case program whereby Naweza reviews and supports the Kenya clinicians on difficult cases. Many times they are cases that require Medcan doctors to liaise with their global network of medical professionals to come up with diagnoses and treatment strategies. It is a pathway for these clinics in rural Kenya to receive leading edge medical advice that they would never receive otherwise. A huge opportunity for not only the Kenyan patient but, as well the clinician who will learn and thus help more Kenyans in the future.
So, a busy day on tap for tomorrow. But for now, a goodnight sleep is in order.
Lala salama,
Stacy