I am traveling to complete a rotation at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital the oldest teaching hospital in the country of Ghana. As a resident, I will be obtaining a temporary medical license to provide care to pediatric patients in the inpatient wards and PICU. I hope to share knowledge with those working with me. In addition, I am hoping to learn from the providers there how to function in a resource limited setting and learn about a different health system. I hope to offer relief to those physicians present at Korle-Bu as I will be an extra provider to help care for the many patients they see.
Pediatric patients from throughout Ghana come to Korle-Bu for care. It is the main site for pediatric subspecialties. As a pediatrics resident it was important to me to travel to a place where I could see the most pediatric patients and provide them the care they are seeking.
By rotating at Korle-Bu I hope to become more adept at functioning in a resource limited setting. This will allow me to use less resources upon return to the US but continue to provide quality care to my patients. A lot of the patients I see currently have very limited financial means. I hope that I can learn how to diagnose the same problems without as much testing saving my patients money in the long run. In addition, not every health system is perfect and I think combining our thoughts and ways we do things could lead to improvements in health systems everywhere including Virginia where I work in the US.
Korle Bu Teaching hospital serves the entire population of Ghana. I worked specifically in pediatrics helping take care of children throughout the country. Many children were from within Accra, the capital, where Korle Bu is located; however, children from neighboring countries were also referred for care. Many of the children that lived long distances from Korle Bu were referred from district and regional hospitals for either further work-up or continued management. The pediatrics team does an incredible job taking care of as many children as they possibly can, whether that is in their busy clinic, wards, NICU, or PICU.
