Vital Times 2019 - 62

region. During this mission, Drs. Jha and Lee
taught regional anesthetic techniques and strategies
for postoperative pain management. Through
their collegial interactions with the local Iraqi
anesthesiologists, they discovered not only many
similarities in practice, but striking differences as well.
The department has entered a multi-institutional
partnership to help create the only anesthesiology
residency program in Liberia, a country whose
healthcare workforce was devastated by the Ebola
outbreak. Dr. Jha plans to travel there in March to
perform a needs assessment. He also plans to travel to
Ethiopia with the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society
International Education Foundation (CASIEF) in
March to train anesthesia residents in Addis Ababa.
Additionally, he was recently invited by the Hiroshima
International Council for Health Care of the radiationexposed, to observe a longitudinal health surveillance
program designed to monitor the victims from the
atomic blasts. Dr. Jha plans to use that knowledge
to help the Kurdish health system build a similar
surveillance program for victims exposed to chemical
weapons and toxic substances.

University of California San Diego
It is the mission of the UC San Diego Department
of Anesthesiology - Division of Global Health
and Policy to cultivate leaders who can help build
capacity and implement sustainable solutions for
the health of underserved populations around the
world. Residents are offered the opportunity to go on
short-term medical service trips (MSTs). This allows
them to appreciate the entire spectrum of global
health experiences in the field of anesthesiology.
Recently, resident trips have included an obstetric
fistula camp in Jos, Nigeria; an ophthalmologic camp

62 | CSA Vital Times

in Azua, Dominican Republic; a general surgical and
orthopedic camp in Nuzvid, India; several cleft lip and
cleft palate programs in Mexico (Thousand Smiles,
Interface, and ConnectMed International); and an
Operation Walk experience in Panama.
Over the past several years, the UC San Diego
Department of Anesthesiology has awarded full
scholarships to senior residents to spend 2-4 weeks
at sites structured by the Society for Education in
Anesthesia - Health Volunteers Overseas (SEA-HVO)
in Hanoi, Vietnam (https://www.seahq.org/page/
HVO) where they contribute to resident and faculty
education with a focus on pediatrics, obstetrics, and
critical care. Going forward, we plan to continue
to accommodate and subsidize the interest of our
residents in global health by providing mentored
resident experiences at the hospitals of our carefully
cultivated international partners. These international
partners include: SEA-HVO in Hanoi, Vietnam;
University Central Hospital in Kigali, Rwanda; Fame
Africa in Tanzania; Georgetown Department of
Anesthesiology in Guyana; SEWA Rural in Jhagadia,
India; METAS Adventist hospital in Surat, India; and
Hospital Regional in Pucallpa, Peru.
UC San Diego strives to be on the forefront of
subspecialty education both domestically and abroad.
After the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi,
there was only one anesthesiologist in the entire
country. The American Society of Anesthesiologists
Global Humanitarian Outreach (ASA-GHO) and the
Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society International
Education Foundation (CASIEF) have been integral
in the support of the University Central Hospital
of Kigali, Rwanda's main teaching hospital. In
collaboration with ASA-GHO, CASIEF, and the
University of Rwanda, Matthew Swisher, MD, founded

https://www.seahq.org/page/HVO https://www.seahq.org/page/HVO

Vital Times 2019

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