Myself and a group of physicians and radiology technologists intend to instruct a CT and US biopsy course in the capital Praia on Santiago island. This course will be focused on solid organ biopsies including liver and kidney. The course will consist of lectures, hands on demonstrations, patient demonstrations, and supervision of participants. There will also be a portion of the course directed towards POCUS for emergency room cases.
Several of the islands within the country have a paucity of imaging services with the majority of medical services offered in Praia. There are also disparities in staffing, facilities, equipment, and medicine. This will make an impact in advancing the level of imaging that is offered.
The general population of Cabo Verde will benefit from this project. They are a culture of vibrant and welcoming people who have made significant efforts in improving poverty over the last several years. Our hope is to continue improvement to medical access from a radiological standpoint.
The population of Cabo Verde has limited access to health care as mentioned above. The expected impact is that the people of Cabo Verde will not have to travel long distances to receive these services and will not have to wait several months for biopsies.
I hope to improve upon my biopsy skills while working alongside the physicians participating in the course. I plan to take what I learn from this trip to be the most compassionate and competent physician I can be. I also intend to continue serving communities both within the United States and internationally as I continue my training and eventually begin my own practice.
This trip was an incredible experience with an amazing group. As a team of two attending physicians, one resident physician, and three radiology technologists, we provided hands-on training for over 10 Cape Verdian physicians in ultrasound biopsy and performed biopsies on 11 live patients. Most of the biopsies performed were on the liver, and we are currently awaiting pathology results. The physicians were from several
different specialties including gastroenterology and internal medicine.
Upon our arrival, we were informed that the CT scanner had been out of order for the previous 3 weeks and that we would be unable to use the scanner for biopsy guidance. This required us to change the trajectory of our intended course to be solely US based. We were adaptable and still had a successful course with several patients who were provided care by our team. The physicians and the staff were all incredibly understanding of the changes.
This trip was done in association with both RAD-AID and CVAMS. The individuals at CVAMS also had very successful outcomes performing the first breast reconstructive surgery in Cape Verde, implanting pacemakers, and creating dialysis access.
