Medicalmissions.com Podcast

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is staggering and unimaginable in terms of magnitude of cases and overall mortality. Corporately, the international humanitarian community could not have anticipated the extent of this unparalleled outbreak, and coordinated global efforts have been significantly outpaced by exponential growth of this deadly disease. Traditional treatment methods of patient isolation and clinical management within Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs) can no longer serve as the exclusive means of patient care. The staggering numbers of patients and inadequate numbers of qualified health care personnel have mandated a vastly unique three tiered “community-based” approach. Please join Dr. Lance Plyler as he reviews and explores the evolution from traditional clinical management to novel approaches of patient care rendered via community care centers and home based efforts.

Ebola has emerged as an extremely complex epidemic that has not only revealed a plethora of underlying problems in the affected countries, but calls for a complex and multi-faceted approach to address it. Adequate and appropriate treatment of Ebola is one aspect of the solution, but a solid public health response is essential to the cessation of this epidemic as well. In addition to the health-related measures that are required, understanding and addressing the cultural factors of the region plays a huge role in stopping the spread of the virus. Additionally, there is the monumental task of spiritual and psychosocial care which is needed, and to which the Church can and must respond. Come and learn more about the various roles available for those who want to engage this crisis from a non-clinical standpoint.

The 2014 Ebola outbreak has already killed more than 4000 people, and the end is not clearly in sight. During this session, we will put Ebola into context of other health problems in Africa and then review the presentations, diagnosis, management, and prevention of this devastating illness. We will also explore ways that we can get involved in battling Ebola, whether near to or far from West Africa.

The Next Generation of students, just like each generation before it, is different and is engaging the world in a new way. In order to effectively attract and retain these students, the church will have to adjust as well. Students no longer want to be a part of a church where they sit, listen and give an offering each week—students of this generation want to know where their money is going and to be a part of the movement. They want to engage in the mission of God in a tangible and real way. Because the entire world is available to them more than ever before, they want to be involved both locally and globally.

ELWA Hospital is a small SIM mission hospital near Monrovia, Liberia. When did we first hear about the impending threat of Ebola? What did we do? How did we prepare? What happened? Come and hear the story of Ebola coming to ELWA.

This session reports on focus groups conducted with 107 domestic victims of sex trafficking in which they discussed the health problems they experienced during trafficking. In addition, the session examines victims' interactions with various types of healthcare providers. The focus groups revealed that nearly all victims experienced physical and mental health problems while being trafficked, including serious communicable and other diseases, injuries resulting from violence, substance abuse, and reproductive health issues. The session summarizes data about the health problems reported by sex trafficking survivors to present a fuller picture of the health consequences that victims suffer. A majority of survivors sought healthcare at some point during the time they were trafficked. The session reports on the contact victims had with health care providers including hospital emergency wards, urgent care clinics, neighborhood clinics, women's clinics, Planned Parenthood clinics, and general practitioners

The medical environment in North Africa's more developed nations is radically different from that of the rest of Africa, where private Christian hospitals with reasonably good surgical services that treat the poor have little or no competition from other hospitals. North Africa also has far more trained and licensed surgeons, and as an outside surgical educator I first had to learn how to work in a medical environment that is prescribed by the local medical community. In North Africa the expatriate surgeon must often compete with licensed local surgeons for surgical cases that residents can learn to do. He or she must be very aware of what the local surgical community considers to be the appropriate way to manage surgical disease. When complications occur the medical-legal environment can be a threat to the residents and to their teachers, especially since we are used to managing our own complications "in house." in Egypt complications are not tracked or discussed as we do in developed countries

The Millennial demographic is a conundrum of sorts. Millennials are those aged 19-36, and are the largest demographic group in history. They are bigger than baby boomers and they are a powerful force in society. They think and act differently than any group before them, and they are critical to the future success of every non-profit. This session is focused on non-profits who are looking to better understand how Millennials think, how they want to engage with your organization and how they give (both monetarily and with their time).

Suppose you were born in Central Thailand 60 years ago. As a teenager you found a numb spot on your arm, later on your arm became painful and finally your hand was deformed and you couldn’t feel or grip anything. You and your family were frightened. The monks at the Buddhist temple tried to help, but their expensive poultices did not help. Your family loved you, but they felt they had no alternative than to put you out of the house. You were a social outcast and would have to live a life of begging.What is worldview? What is your worldview? What is the worldview of the community described in the scenario above?The great majority of medical missions in East Asia takes place in Buddhist and Chinese (Confucius) contexts. Are they the same, similar or different? What obstacles must be overcome to make an impact physically and spiritually in East Asia? What must a medical missionary understand and put into practice in order to work effectively with peoples in Buddhist and Chinese worldviews? Finally, what is the u

The principles of abdominal surgery are not different in Africa, but the presentation, available diagnostic tools and frequency of certain etiologies is significantly different. The approach and therapy of peptic ulcer disease, small bowel obstruction, large bowel obstruction and parasitic disease in the abdomen will be the primary diseases discussed.

Endoscopists in the global South face common challenges including limited training opportunities and poor access to equipment and repair facilities. Despite these challenges therapeutic endoscopy creates dramatic improvements in patient outcomes in resource-constrained settings. Strategies for implementing, growing, and sustaining endoscopy services – including the role of short-term partners - will be discussed.

Cross-cultural medical workers are under multiple levels of stress peculiar to their professional roles. They often serve as mental health resources to colleagues and other cross-cultural workers, have difficulty limiting the hours of work with minimal reprieve for rest and restoration. This session will focus on cognitive and behavioral tools that can improve mental and emotional self-care.

This session will discuss the role of women in health care missions today. It will include examples and personal stories that will encourage expanded vision and new perspectives on opportunities and needs.

Single medical professionals are resilient in a cross-cultural setting and have the opportunity to be highly effective in service. The greatest challenges impact the personal home life of the individual. Applications to increase resiliency in the personal life will be explored with attention given to the relational and sexual domains of life. The workshop will include a presentation followed by designated time to pose questions and dialogue about the material.

This session will focus on the advances in maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) with a special emphasis on healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies (HTSP). We will discuss the progress made over the past 25 years as well as a way forward with a focus on international family planning. We will look at Ethiopia as a case study for the implementation of healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies and the linkages with addressing other global health millennium development goals. In terms of next steps, we will provide a robust discussion around philanthropy, awareness-raising, and advocacy opportunities to elevate the issues of MNCH for a goal of better dialogue and increased funding on these important global health and development issues.

May people talk about being a missionary in the future… "when I graduate from medical school… when I pay off my debt… when I have more experience… THEN I will become a missionary." The problem is that few are actually living the life of a missionary NOW. Being a missionary does not just magically happen when you set foot on foreign soil. In this session we will discuss the preparation of your heart and hands to be a missionary NOW in your current context, whether that be nursing school, medical school, or residency, AND in the future, whether that be North Africa or North Tulsa.

Integrating evangelism into medical missions can be difficult, particularly in areas that are closed to the gospel. We will discuss the topic from the big picture down to details and examples.

Spina bifida is usually a devastating diagnosis in any part of the work, but it is even more grave in the developing world. Embarking upon a treatment regimen demands that the parents have full information about what limitations should be anticipated for their child. Also, the full repertoire of potential operations, needed care, and life expectancy should be discussed with the family. The mother should be advised about long term folate utilization if she anticipates continued sexual activity while being in a child bearing age. Full information will allow a better understanding by the parents of anticipated changes in the child's disposition over a life time. As the child matures, more and more information will also needed to be shared with the patient.

Historically, the medical goals of medical missions have focused primarily upon primary care, preventive care, and infectious diseases. While these continue to be areas of great need throughout the world, and justifiably remain laudable goals of medical missions, a great deal of literature has emerged in recent years regarding the enormous burden of chronic disease in developing countries. Correctible cardiac lesions have been shown to represent a disproportionate burden of chronic diseases in the developing world, and generally are a disease of children and young adults. Due to lack of diagnostic and curative services, most of these patients continue to die at very young ages. However, with appropriate technology, teaching, and capacity building, many patients can be treated to prevent progression of disease, or provide curative surgical therapy. In this breakout session, we will look at the example of Tenwek Hospital in Kenya, where hundreds of open-heart procedures have now been performed with very lo

Particpants will be presented with ideas and options for securing and transporting Physical and Occupational Therapy supplies and equipment for short term mission trips. The participants will also be exposed to the expectations of working in the clinic with general descriptions of the workings of a short term Physical and Occupational Therapy clinic. Instructions will include the relationship with other providers in the context of a short term medical clinic and types of patients and working conditions. Discussions will also include dialogue with the participants sharing experiences as time allows.