I plan to participate in clinical and educational pediatric anesthesia rotation in Kijabe, Kenya to serve a low-income country.
By sharing Vanderbilt's strengths and resources (knowledge and clinical skills), this trip will benefit the lives of those living in Kijabe and the surrounding area and help sustain the local anesthesia practitioners to provide safe and effective anesthesia care to their people.
The patients who come to the hospital for care; the practitioners who provide care to this population as I share my knowledge and skills with them; myself as I will be challenged to grow on a personal and professional level as I learn about deficiencies within Kenya.
Vanderbilt International Anesthesia has spent years building the Kenya elective to allow residents and fellows an opportunity to participate in global health.
Since deciding to become a physician in high school, I have been interested in using my skills to help as many people as possible, especially those who may not have the types of resources I had growing up. My fellowship training is currently in pediatric anesthesia and next year will be in congenital cardiac anesthesia. During my training in residency, I discovered that our lead pediatric cardiac perfusionist participates in medical missions. I don't know what the future holds, but I would like to be able to use the opportunities put before me and the resources available to me to continue work in underserved areas, especially since I now have connections to both a location and my subspecialty to do this type of work.
From the warm welcomes of the staff to the grateful patients, what an absolute honor and pleasure it was to have the opportunity to spend a month at AIC Kijabe Hospital. It was impressive to see a hospital able and willing to take care of its own but also welcome visitors from around the world to guide practices and provide insight to both resident anesthesiologists and KRNAs alike. Case types were both similar and different: some pathology presented at a much later stage than in the States, but the camaraderie between surgeons, anesthesia, and OR staff to take care of the patient in the best way possible with the resources available was quite evident. Despite hardships, their spirits were never dampened because they are rooted in the love of Christ. With help from the consultants, I grew not only clinically with challenges I faced in the OR and developed a greater sense of resource allocation but also as a person as my heart grew in a desire to help in whatever way I can in the future. I would happily go back the next opportunity I can.
