Pediatric emergency medicine is an emerging subspecialty in Rwanda. We are teaching residents in pediatrics and emergency medicine in Kigali as well as some of the referring hospitals in Rwanda. We are utilizing didactic lectures, case conferences and simulation as teaching modalities. We are also offering hands on training to the nursing staff who treat pediatric emergency patients along with medical residents in these locations. We are working with medical school faculty and governmental officials to determine the feasibility and implementation of a Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Fellowship in Rwanda.
We are also hoping to develop virtual conferences and lectures between our pediatric and emergency medicine residents at Brown Medical School and those at University of Rwanda and Africa Health Sciences University.
Our direct audience is residents in Pediatric and Emergency Medicine at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali and King Faisal Hospital in Kigali and their affiliated referring hospitals. We will also provide educational opportunities for the nursing staff who work side by side with the residents in these pediatric emergency care areas. Ultimately this will benefit the children and families they treat, both in the larger teaching hospitals in Kigali as well as the smaller and more rural referring and district hospitals that transfer patients to them.
In the process of advising the development of a subspecialty Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Fellowship in Rwanda, there would be a systematic benefit on healthcare throughout the country. The residency programs in Kigali also train a number of residents from other African countries so progress in Rwanda could have wide reaching affects throughout the region.
The direct impact is educational with our targeted audiences being young physicians who will be leading the fields of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine in Rwanda over the next 25 years or more. I will be traveling with my colleagues who have previously had this opportunity. In the past they have left educational materials with the residents and several of the residents have already adapted modules for teaching in more remotes site in Rwanda and beyond. Most of the residents my colleagues have interacted with previously were fluent in a number of languages and were able to reach audiences that my colleagues could not. The residents also had direct knowledge of the resources available at theses sites and were adapt accordingly. From past experience, my colleagues have seen that their goal is not to give a watered down version of what is done in the United States but to provide the same high quality care in sometimes challenging environments.
As economic development rapidly progresses across Rwanda, pediatric emergencies that have been plaguing American and European countries are becoming more common. Traumatic injuries such has motor vehicle crashes with significant head injuries and scald and electrical burns are more prevalent. Medical emergencies such as sepsis and emerging infections are on the rise and as infant mortality decreases and more children with congenital conditions survive, more complications of these conditions in childhood are being seen. My colleagues and I are preparing this next generation of physicians and nurses to treat child and young adults with these conditions.
I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to travel to Rwanda to provide medical education to Pediatric and Emergency Medicine residents as well as Pediatric nurses. Not only did they learn from what I taught but I also learned so much from my fellow colleagues in Rwanda.
We provided education on Primary and Secondary Surveys during trauma activations. In addition, I taught about Non-Accidental Trauma. The colleagues we taught were interested and engaging and asked many valuable questions. They told me they were grateful for the education on Non-Accidental Trauma especially because that is not part of their regular training. I felt that I provided key information and know that they will be able to apply it in their everyday practice. We taught in the city of Kigali as well as in more rural communities. It was very eye opening for me and educational for me to see how different areas practice, especially areas that aren't flush with medical supplies, machines and equipment like I am used to in the New England region of the US.
I enjoyed this experience immensely and I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity. Thank you! I look forward to returning to Rwanda in the future to continue to assist as they develop their residency and fellowship program in Pediatric Emergency Medicine.
