Medicalmissions.com Podcast

Unhealthy dependency develops when we do for others what they can and should do for themselves. This seminar looks at how
the dependency syndrome develops in cross-cultural ministry and how it can be either avoided or overcome. Stories will be told about mission-established
churches which avoided the problem from the beginning and how others overcame
it and can now stand on
their own two feet. Some attention will be paid to
how short-term missions
can avoid contributing to
the dependency syndrome. Time will also be given to discussing the implications
of sustainability in Christian medical institutions among mission-established churches.

This session will discuss
how globalization is affecting medical education worldwide. We will discuss some of the requirements for, barriers,
to, and problems for the globalization of medical education to make a difference in developing countries. We will then discuss why there
is such a desperate need for medical education to build healthcare capacity, and will present examples of groups and individuals who have
used medical education to make a difference and as
an evangelistic opportunity. Participants will be challenged to consider both long- and/
or short-term opportunities to make a difference in medical care in developing countries by presenting opportunities and discussing the rewards now and for eternity.

To have an impact in a world of unprecedented suffering, Christian counseling approaches need to be holistic, systemic, indigenous, and collaborative according to the Cape Town Declaration crafted by an international team at the 2010 Lausanne Congress. In this session, these four dimensions of the Declaration will be explained and illustrated with case examples from around the world.

This session will discuss
how globalization is affecting medical education worldwide. We will discuss some of the requirements for, barriers,
to, and problems for the globalization of medical education to make a difference in developing countries. We will then discuss why there
is such a desperate need for medical education to build healthcare capacity, and will present examples of groups and individuals who have
used medical education to make a difference and as
an evangelistic opportunity. Participants will be challenged to consider both long- and/
or short-term opportunities to make a difference in medical care in developing countries by presenting opportunities and discussing the rewards now and for eternity.

Refugees and OVCs (Orphan and Vulnerable Children) have common health problems
as extremely disadvantaged people, living through traumatic situations with limited resources. Using case presentations and
an interactive format, this workshop will explore Refugee and OVC care and treatment issues particularly from the speaker’s experience in Africa, Asia, and South America.

Abdominal pain in the tropics includes many of the same diseases as elsewhere but there are conditions that are unique. Using a case-based approach, some of the more common of the conditions that cause acute abdominal pain will be discussed. Approaches to diagnosis and treatment, especially those that are not obvious to the practitioner from N. America, will be discussed in an interactive style.

Relatively uncommon
in N. America, tropical pyomyositis, acute and chronic osteomyelitis and septic arthritis are frequently encountered by medical missionaries in the developing world. Resources may be poor and specialists rare. This session is designed to give the nonspecialist medico a practical, case-oriented approach to these problems.

The Pan-African Academy
of Christian Surgeons is a general surgery residency for African national physicians. Founded in 1997, it presently is training 35 residents and has graduated 20 fully trained surgeons. The lessons learned and applicability to similar programs in Africa will be discussed.

As a medical missionary
you will face many ethical challenges you never experienced during your training or practice in the
US. When should you do procedures that you are not trained to do? How do you justly allocate your limited resources of time, supplies, and equipment? What about bribes? Should you provide better access at a higher cost to those that can afford it? As a trained bio-ethicist and missionary, Dr. Stevens will share practical Biblical based principles to guide you on these and many other issues.

If God has been nudging you about serving in missions, you have many questions: How do I know I’m called? How do I pick a mission agency? What training should I get? What about raising support? What is it like to raise your kids overseas? How can I avoid burnout? Using his experience and lots of stories, Dr. Stevens will answer these questions and others at this popular breakout session.

As a missionary, you will be
a well-trained healthcare professional, but to serve well, you must be a leader
as you manage staff, start programs, and work with the church. Dr. Stevens has boiled down a forest of leadership books into bite-size proverbs full of wit and wisdom in his highly acclaimed book, “Leadership Proverbs.” Using these along with stories from the mission field, he will teach the most important leadership principles for missionaries to learn and apply.

Planning and preparing for
a medical mission trip is an exciting process that should include a pre-trip visit with a health care provider that has a background in travel medicine. This session will discuss steps you can take to help ensure you stay healthy on your trip: receiving appropriate routine- and travel-specific vaccinations, general safety advice, following insect and food/beverage precautions, and taking malaria prophylaxis when indicated.

Traveling with children to distant lands for long-term mission assignments is rewarding and fun, but usually comes with some challenges. This session will discuss pre-trip health maintenance recommendations with regards to routine and travel-specific vaccinations and malaria prevention in children. In addition, there will be emphasis on safety measures to help prevent general injury and illness in the young traveler.

Approximately 25% of the world’s population is infected with intestinal helminths. These neglected tropical diseases greatly impact the world’s least privileged and most vulnerable populations, especially children and those living in extreme poverty. We will review the global burden of these individual parasites, their life cycles, clinical presentations, and treatment.

Approximately 25% of the world’s population is infected with intestinal helminths. These neglected tropical diseases greatly impact the world’s least privileged and most vulnerable populations, especially children and those living in extreme poverty. We will review the global burden of these individual parasites, their life cycles, clinical presentations, and treatment.

Health for All by the Year 2000 was the goal of the Alma Ata Declaration in 1978. The authors, many of them Christians, hoped to achieve access to basic healthcare for all people using a community health development approach. Yet more than 30 years later the concept languishes. What have we learned during the past 30 years that might restore the goal?

The New Testament gives
not one but several models for doing missions. New Testament models of missions are far more flexible and less narrowly defined than the way we typically think of missions. The usual conception of a missionary as one who follows a “call” to go abroad is just one facet of missions. In this session we will explore the biblical patterns and trajectories of what it means to do missions—at home and abroad—and discover what the Bible has to say to us about being “missional” in the 21st Century.

This session will explore goals of intervention for children with cerebral palsy or spina bifida and how to accomplish this in a setting with limited resources. We will look at the basics of treatment, equipment options, seating and positioning, and bracing.