The team will set up an outreach clinic (registration, triage, provider, pharmacy, physical therapy, dental) in OneWorld Health partnered schools and churches in the surrounding communities of Masindi.
These medical outreaches serve to promote our permanent medical center, serve the communities we have committed to, refer patients and continue setting a precedent for quality healthcare throughout the region.
We will treat 200+ patients in the daily outreach clinics and educate/refer patients to continued healthcare at permanent OneWorld Health facilities. We serve a rural population; approximately 60% of our patients are female and 40% are male. Nearly 20% of patients are children under five and 60% of patients have five+ in their household. More than 32% of patients are from the poorest quartile of Uganda, 13% are in wealthiest.
Uganda is an incredible country. We flew out of the snow, into the beautiful tropic atmosphere. After recouping overnight near the capital, we had a hearty breakfast complete with fresh fruit. We drove for a day to our final destination in the western region of the country about 40miles from the Uganda-Congo border. We set up one week of clinics in several villages surrounding the regional facility, at Masindi Kitara, seeing roughly 200 people per day.
I served as medical director for our team of 15 nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and support staff. We partnered with lab staff (picture above) from Masindi Kitara Hospital through OneWorld Health. Through in-country contacts we were able to work with local village leaders and translators (also pictured), to provide clinical assessments in a number of local languages.
The majority of individuals treated had routine medical complaints such as elevated blood pressure, arthritis, and acid reflux. We also had many patients who presented with more acute complaints such as severe malaria, acute anemia, Buruli ulcer, Tungiasis, Trachoma, LGV, and suspected Yaws. Given the burden of neglected tropical disease and malnutrition, we routinely provided anti-helminthics to decrease parasite burden.
Although we provided a lot of great care to these populations, the greatest impact will likely be plugging people into the network of care with OneWorld Health and Masindi Kitara Medical Center. At MKMC, they will be able to obtain ongoing care and disease management, obtain excellent obstetric, surgical, and medical care, and they will have ongoing contact with a medical system sustainably established to provide culturally appropriate and affordable care for their local population.
Uganda is an incredible country. It's people are vibrant and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from them and to be able to participate in the work of OneWorld Health. Many thanks to Doximity Foundation for helping sponsor our efforts.
