I am a board-certified Obgyn with a dream. After having done nearly 20 missions abroad, it is my wish to do this type of work full-time. To that end, I will be traveling to Ghana this December to perform fibroid surgery. After having visited and worked in Ghana three times before, the need is great. A woman in this country is considered "worthless" if she cannot carry or bear children. I perform complex myomectomies to improve their chances of conceiving, reduce life-threatening anemia, and improve their qualities of life. Once when I was there, I found out that doctors will schedule a surgery for a patient in need, but if another patient pays more, they will be bumped. I serve those women, and hope to continue to do so.
West African women in and around Accra, Ghana. This population is specifically affected by very large fibroids, and the societal impact can be devastating if a patient cannot conceive or carry a pregnancy.
I always offer a resident (either from the USA or Ghana) to scrub with me to learn how to work in a low-resource setting. Additionally, I always teach Ghanian nurses to become surgical technicians during my stays.
