Humanitarian Efforts
Upcoming trips to Kenya:
• November 2012, dates TBA
• February 2013, dates TBA
In 1989, Indiana University School of Medicine and Moi University School of Medicine agreed to join together to develop leaders in health care for both the U.S. and Africa. That mission inspired this team to provide invaluable training to future generations of health care providers on both continents.
The IU-Kenya Partnership promotes bilateral exchange of students, post-graduate trainees, and faculty members. Since 1990, over 190 medical residents at IU have taken elective rotations in Kenya. Virtually all of these residents have rated their elective in Kenya as the premier experience of their residency training. While at Moi University, their responsibilities include patient care, teaching and clinical research activities.
Drs. Cordes and Makaya removing parotid tumor.
More than 180 senior students from IU have taken clinical electives at MUSM. A two month-long summer ambassadorship for freshman medical students was initiated in 1995 that enables two to four IUSM students to travel to Kenya each summer to take classes, participate in community-based projects and service, round in the hospital, and live with their Kenyan counterparts in the dorms.
Together with the other institutions in the ASANTE consortium, Indiana University has sponsored, and hosted 14 Kenyan medical students each year for 2-month electives in the US. Many of the faculty members at MUSM have also visited Indiana University for the purpose of training, collaborative research, and program development.
Dr. Cordes with Drs. Sisenda and Makaya of Moi University Otolaryngology Department
The otolaryngology/head and neck surgery department has joined the ranks of Indiana University departments involved in the IU-Kenya Partnership. Dr. Susan Cordes initially travelled to Kenya in February 2009 and since then semi-annual visits have provided surgery, teaching and collegial partnerships between our otolaryngology departments. IU otolaryngology residents are part of the team on trips to Kenya and participate in surgery, clinics, teaching and research.
For more information about the IU-Kenya Partnership visit www.ampathkenya.org
Dr. Henry Nono, ENT Surgeon from Kenya, visits IU ENT
Department as an AAO International Visiting Scholar
Dr. Henry Nono receives the AAO International
Visiting Scholar Award
The February 2010 IU Head and Neck Team: Dr. Chris Chacko (resident), Dr. Mike Moore, Diana Sullivan RN, Dr. Susan Cordes, Dr. Edward Weisberger, Dr. David Matthews, Kyle Cordes, Heather Cain RN
IU otolaryngologists gave educational presentations on a variety of otolaryngology/head and neck surgery topics
New technologies introduced to Moi during this visit included FESS and flexible laryngoscopy
Collegiality and the building of professional relationships make trips an enormous success
FUNDRAISING
Otolaryngology attendees at the Kenya Gala 2010 fundraiser for the IU Kenya program.
Kenya Gala 2010 booth featuring Otolaryngology as well as other clinical and public health services.
IU otolaryngology residents, Mark Royer and Aaron Moberly run the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, raising funds for the IU Kenya Program
Donating to the IU-Kenya Partnership
Advanced disease and tumors of the ears, nose, throat and head and neck are a major burden of disease in Kenya. Disorders become severe when left untreated by patients who do not have money to seek medical care. Common ENT disorders treated are:
- Cancer of the mouth, throat and neck and saliva glands
- Thyroid goiters
- Airway obstruction due to tumor or scarring
- Chronic ear disease
- Tumors of the nose and sinuses
- Cleft lip and palate
- Congenital and acquired facial deformities
- Traumatic injury to the face and neck
- Ear disease and tumors
IU otolaryngologists pay their own travel expenses and donate their time and skills to improving the quality of life of Kenyans afflicted with these disorders. In order to provide quality ENT care to Kenyan patients, resources are needed to maintain and expand clinic and operating room facilities. Resources are needed for:
- Patient costs for tests, surgery, medications
- Surgical Equipment and Instruments
- Surgery Supplies (eg suture, bandages)
- Training materials
- Travel expenses for Kenyan ENT’s to receive additional training at IU
With your financial support, together we can train Kenyan medical students and otolaryngologists to care for these complex ENT patients and make a difference for countless Kenyans.
To donate to the IU-Kenya ENT Partnership, please click on the button below.
OR:
Make a check payable to: “Kenya ENT”
And mail to: IU Kenya Program
IU Foundation
P.O. Box 660245
Indianapolis, IN 46266-0245
Dr. Peter Schilt (PG 3) travelled with 'Smiles of Hope' to Tegucigalpa, Honduras from January 9-16, 2010. While there, the team saw patients in clinic and surgically repaired cleft lips and palates. The mission had three staff otolaryngologists, an anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetists, nurses, respiratory therapists, and others. Dr. Schilt was the only resident on the team. The team performed 21 surgeries and took care of over 40 patients. They also built a 16' x 16' home for a small family on their last day.
Dr. Schilt operating with Dr. Charles Ford, an otolaryngologist from North Carolina
Dr. James Ulm served as the 2010 coordinator of the Barefoot Doctors Program in Thailand. The program trains villagers from Myanmar (Burma) in basic medicine (5 weeks of training per year for three years) so they may return to Myanmar and care for their villages. Dr. Mark Royer spent one week instructing this year's class of 26 barefoot doctors on a variety of topics including anatomy & physiology, suturing, incision and drainage, wound care, facial trauma management and ENT diagnosis and treatment. In addition to instructing these Myanmar villager leaders, Dr. Royer also spent a weekend treating patients in a village near the Myanmar-Thailand border. The barefoot doctors completed their coursework mid March 2010 and returned to their villages in Myanmar supplied with medicines and medical equipment including Suture kits (donated by Dr. Cordes), Blood pressure cuffs and stethoscopes (Donated by Dr. Ulm), and Otoscopes (donated by Dr. Royer).
Since 2009, the Department has held an annual free head and neck cancer screening at the Brickyard 400 NASCAR event in July. This two-day event is part of the national Oral and Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week (OHNCAW) put on by the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance (HNCA). Each year the efforts have been supported by over 100 volunteers for the weekend (Physicians, nurses, speech pathologists, administrators, head and neck cancer survivors, etc.) and over 380 people have been screened, annually.
