We plan to continue to cultivate and strengthen our relationship with the attending and resident radiologists at the Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania by returning with attending radiologist, Dr. Timothy Rooney and two senior radiology residents from Dartmouth in February 2019. We are again working in conjunction with a group of radiologists from Yale led by Dr. Frank Minja. The focus of our upcoming trip is to bring the use of mobile ultrasound to the radiology department as a means of an affordable, easy to use diagnostic tool that can be implemented into their current workflow. We will continue to educate the radiologists on breast imaging techniques, protocols and BIRADS. While we are working in Tanzania, we will also continue to provide hours of daily hands-on and lecture-based didactics in all areas of radiology including cardiothoracic and musculoskeletal imaging.
We will primarily be focused on supporting and educating the attending and resident radiologists at the Muhimbili National Hospital in the major city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We will continue to learn from the Tanzanian radiologists to better understand their strengths and struggles so that we can be most effective in the assistance we can provide during our two week trip. Focusing our efforts with the radiologists will allow for the greatest impact on the field of radiology and patient population in Tanzania by building on our relationship with the radiologists established on prior trips and encouraging empowerment of education amongst the Tanzanian radiologists and associated clinicians long after our trip is completed.
We anticipate that introduction of mobile ultrasound will provide a new, efficient and sustainable means for expansion of diagnostic ultrasound in Tanzania. Due to the foundation laid by our previous trips, we anticipate that our education on breast imaging and various additional areas of radiology will leave a lasting impact on the current radiologists practice and confidence in educating future radiologists in Tanzania.
The Dartmouth Radiology group and colleagues were warmly welcomed by the attendings, residents and patients in Dar es Salaam. The attendings and residents successfully learned ultrasound guided core breast biopsies and the multi-disciplinary workflow needed for comprehensive breast care. This new procedure has the potential to save many women from more invasive breast excisions for benign pathologies. We introduced the use of the portal ultrasound unit which opens up the possibilities and extent of ultrasound use for both diagnosis and procedures in Tanzania. We also reinforced the use of BIRADS for clinical decision making and reporting. There was great enthusiasm from all during our 2 week breast camp and we believe the new techniques introduced and professional relationships developed in Tanzania will continue to strengthen with time and future return trips.
