I will be going to support physician education and diabetes care in two hospitals in Cambodia, Sihanouk Hospital Center of Hope in Phnom Penh and Sonia Kill Hospital in Kampot. At SHCH I will be contributing to ongoing programs in diabetes care in the outpatient setting including collecting data on patient-physician visits as well as a new epidemiological study on screening for diabetes in the emergency room. In addition I will deliver 2 lectures every day to the internal medicine residents on a variety of topics in endocrinology. At the Sonia Kill Hospital I will be seeing patients with the family practice residents focusing on patients with a variety of endocrine problems. I will lecture daily to the family practice residents and I will continue to mentor a recent graduate of their family practice program in establishing a specialty program in diabetes care. At both hospitals my primary purpose is to improve education of physicians to care for patients with diabetes.
I went on a trip this April to Cambodia visiting 2 hospitals, one in urban Phnom Penh, the Sihanouk Hospital Center of HOPE and the associated outpatient clinic, Community Medical Center, and one in rural Kampot, the Sonja Kill Medical Center. These hospitals serve the very poorest patients in Cambodia who often present in dire circumstances. I am a diabetes specialist and I have been assisting both hospitals with developing diabetes programs. The Diabetes Clinic at the Community Medical Center has now entered over 3000 patients with diabetes into a comprehensive program of medical care, education and support groups. 40% of the patients in the CMC program were not diagnosed with diabetes before presenting to the clinic. In Cambodia most medical care is aimed at treating existing medical conditions but the focus of the Diabetes Program is to emphasize prevention through screening for complications. During this trip I also worked with the staff at the Sonja Kill Hospital to start a similar program. These programs are already attracting patients from all over the country.
I also teach medical staff and residents, giving lectures once or twice a day on a variety of topics as well as going on inpatient rounds and seeing patients in outpatient clinics with both residents and attending staff. I love the challenge of seeing and managing patients in a low resourced setting and I come back having learned so much. One patient was in severe thyroid storm, an often fatal complication of hyperthyroidism, and I believe my experience was helpful in guiding her management and recovery.The medical staff is incredibly dedicated to patient care and to teaching.
The photos are taken at both hospitals and show teaching rounds at SHCH, diabetes support group meeting,Dr Phanavarine Menh chief of diabetes at CMC and students, celebration of the Khmer New Year by medical staff, inpatient rounds at SKMC, and me with house staff at SKMC.
Medical volunteering is an excellent way to share your knowledge. I thank Dox Foundation for making my trip possible
