This rotation is designed to offer a unique elective experience during the PGY4 year for our residents. At this point in training our residents are competent in most basic urologic procedures and have the fund of knowledge to approach diverse pathologies and problem-solve clinically challenging situations. At this stage of their training, our urology residents can be valuable members of the clinical team in Senegal during the workup and diagnosis process in clinic, as skilled assistants to the local urologic surgeons in the OR and during the acute post-operative phase. They will be expected to participate fully in clinical and educational activities with local medical students and residents, round in the hospital, and assist in surgery being mindful that all activities are commensurate with their level of training.
In exchange the Senegalese residents will be traveling to spend 2 weeks in the US. 1 week with Dr. Ruenes in Doylestown observing the OR and clinic and then 1 week at Michigan Medicine where they will similarly participate in resident didactics, rounds, clinic and OR as well as didactics focused on research methodologies.
As the supervising faculty I will be working with residents from both programs on gaining valuable skills in cultural competency, health systems, sustainability, and research methodology.
Urology residents in both countries will gain significant skills and competencies. This in turn benefits their practice and the populations they serve in the future. I will be providing specific lectures on my areas of expertise in female urology as well as teaching residents through cases in Senegal focused on pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence.
We have chosen Senegal due to the long-standing relationship I have with Dr. Serigne Gueye and Dr. Lamine Niang. The Urology Residency program at Hopital General Idrissa Pouye is led by Dr. Lamine Niang and Dr. Mohammed Jalloh and is considered the premier urologic training program in West Africa and currently has 23 residents in training. During this time, they met Dr. Priyanka Gupta 15 years ago and have collaborated on an obstetric fistula training project over the last 10 years.
I believe that the landscape of global health has greatly evolved, and it is time for us to build sustainable partnerships that are equitable and mutually beneficial. I see my future role in building and sustaining a bidirectional exchange that allows for collaboration, exposure, and graduation of residents that are more empathetic, resource conscious, and culturally sensitive.
This is planned to be a annual exchange with residents traveling from each program and we hope to foster ongoing research and educational efforts.
This was our second annual trip to Dakar, Senegal. This year I traveled with Dr. Madison Krischak a PGY4 resident and Dr. Albert Ruenes who has been working in Dakar for over 20 years. Together we engaged with the urology residency in Dakar providing lectures, exchanging information about our respective residency programs, and participating in clinical activities. Both Dr. Ruenes and myself assisted in open surgeries including vesicovaginal fistula repair and prostatectomy with our Senegalese colleagues. Dr. Krischak had the opportunity to observe and assist in open surgeries performed by the expert surgeons in Dakar.
This trip has continued to foster the relationship between our urology residencies and allowed for trainees to gain exposure to different health care systems, pathologies, technologies, and further research between our institutions in the areas of surgical education and prostate cancer.
