A Tufts delegation plans to establish a yearly rotation in Haiti to aid residents in the wake of January's earthquake.
Twelve faculty members and seven students from the Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) and the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service embarked on a six−week research trip to Haiti six months after the earthquake.
The group worked in Milot, a town 70 miles north of Port−au−Prince, making rounds alongside local physicians at the Hôpital Sacré−Coeur, and conducted community health projects in the surrounding areas, according to second−year medical student Graham Brant−Zawadski.
"The projects were informed by the community's needs," TUSM Dean of Multicultural Affairs and Global Health Joyce Sackey, who participated in the trip, said. "We were very careful about listening to the community and the leadership of the hospital as to what their priorities were."
The group hopes to expand on their first visit to form a permanent rotation in Haiti. Although the exact terms have yet to be confirmed, the group has already obtained funding for future rotations, according to second−year medical student Sally Greenwald (LA '07).
"There's no possibility we're stopping," Greenwald said. "We have funds left over from Tisch College and TUSM travel grants and have already established a fund for future projects. Tufts has pledged financial support to continue this as a yearly rotation."
Sackey also expressed optimism about a permanent TUSM presence in Haiti. She said the first trip's success helped cement the decision to try to continue the program.
"Our long−term goal is to establish a longitudinal engagement in Haiti with new crops of students who wish to go and build on the projects we have already started [in order]to maintain the momentum we have started," Sackey said.
The group focused on three separate community health projects: increasing preventative screening for chronic diseases, improving maternal health education for new mothers and establishing an emergency response system, according to Greenwald.
"Haiti has the highest rate of cervical cancer in the world, and one way to reduce mortality is by screening," Greenwald said.
Greenwald noted that pap smears, the most common procedure to test for cervical cancer, are costly and require technology most hospitals in Haiti do not have.
An alternative technique, visual inspection with acetic acid, commonly known as VIA, would be more cost−effective for Haitian hospitals, which are operating with very limited resources, Greenwald said.
"Over the last 20 years, most relief agencies focused on infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. … Now people are living longer and suffering from chronic diseases like hypertension and cervical cancer," Greenwald said.
"In the [United States], we operate under the notion that we can spend $1 billion to save a person, but that philosophy doesn't work in Haiti," Greenwald said. "We need to develop a sustainable screening protocol in the most cost−efficient way. Otherwise, the screening won't happen."
Another goal of the trip was to establish an effective emergency response system in the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake. The group evaluated Hôpital Sacré−Coeur's ability to respond to emergencies and attempted to set up criteria to train officers and improve emergency triage and patient transport, according to Brant−Zawadski.
"One aspect of the project was to introduce a simple system that would depend on cell phone technology used by trained health care workers," Sackey said. "This way, you could train the community to call the cell phone when someone needs help, and people would get attention much earlier than before."
The group also researched issues surrounding infant mortality and lack of education on the part of new mothers. They worked to establish a community intervention program that teaches mothers to respond to potentially dangerous symptoms exhibited by their children, according to Sackey. She emphasized that learning through global citizenship is an important aspect of the education program at the School of Medicine.
"It's an issue of equity," Sackey said. "Anyone who is social justice−minded would say, ‘There is something wrong when babies are dying before they are five in someplace so close by. We should help.'"
Sackey noted that the educational opportunities afforded by such trips, although less altruistic, are equally important to medical students.
"Students have the opportunity to learn about cross−cultural medicine and will see things they definitely will not see in Boston," she said. "It's also a huge time for personal growth. Students can see that what they do makes a huge difference."
