I plan to continue to advance the urogynecology surgical training curriculum for the residents, surgeons and nurses in 2 hospitals in Haiti that we have had relationships with since 2013. International Medical Response, which I co-founded, has worked in Haiti with these OBGYN training programs to increase surgical capacity in pelvic reconstructive surgery. We’ve worked to establish a training curriculum in Uorgynecology/FPMRS that addresses this very important need for women and their health during, affecting all ranges of the age spectrum. By training surgeons in vaginal surgery, which is the safest and recommended route for many recisntructive procedures, we help support better care for the women of Haiti.
The beneficiaries will be the patients cared for at the large public hospital in Port au Prince, known as the National Hospital, or HUEH, as well as in St Boniface Hospital in Fonds de Blanc, who suffer from female pelvic floor disorders including prolapse and incontinence. All our care is free and we serve the poorest patients, who suffer in silence as this is a highly underreported condition. The surgeons we train also benefit as they increase their skillset in the OR, in patient safety and in clinical management of female pelvic floor disorders.
This trip is part of program to build surgical capacity in Pelvic Reconstruction in Haiti. I’ve partnered with Haitian training hospitals since 2013 to enhance training jn vaginal surgery, a big gap in training of Haitian Ob/Gyns. By training surgeons in vaginal pelvic reconstruction, increasing thier surgical skills and competency, they are better able to care for women with prevalent conditions such a prolapse and urogenital fistulas in a safer way.
This was International Medical Response's 3rd trip to Haiti this year, to continue our pelvic surgery training initiative, the Haitian Women's Collaborative project. Since 2014, we've worked with local ob/gyn residency programs and departments in St Boniface, National and Croix des Bouquet Hospitals. We treat women with pelvic organ prolapse and urogenital fistulas, training local doctors and nurses in surgical technique and patient safety protocols. These are conditions that are vastly underreported and there are not enough surgeons who are trained to fix these conditions. Our goal is to fill the gaps in surgical care for these essential, life-altering surgeries and train surgeons in operations and procedures to provide the best care for the women in Haiti.
