Advocacy and Scholarly Activity

2023 witnessed a reduction in concern for COVID-19 infections and severity which allowed SCHC Family Medicine Residency to again travel internationally to present educational experiences to midwives and birthing attendants. SCHC kindly supported this international humanitarian effort.

This year, we partnered with Maya Midwifery International to train 75 indigenous Mayan midwives the principles of neonatal resuscitation using curriculum from the AAP’s Helping Babies Breathe. Three senior residents, Dr. Landin Hagge, Dr. Bryan Messenger and Dr. Kamal Iftikhar were full participants and trainers, highlighting the excellent training they have received in the Family Medicine Residency Program.  Dr. Debra Lupeika, Residency Program Director, and Dr. Doug McMullin, past Associate Program Director, also traveled and taught. Erin Cullop, RN and Renee Hubmann, RN, NICU nurses from Mercy Medical Center, were major assets in the teaching program and demonstrated seasoned experience in newborn care.

The training was optimized by a delightful lecture on perinatal nutrition by Ashley MacClean, a graduate student in nutrition at Dominican University.

The midwives of Concepcion de Chiquirichapa near Quetzaltenango (Xela), Guatemala received the training and resuscitation equipment enthusiastically; the training team learned much about the midwives’ time tested experience in delivery and neonatal care.  Classes were held over 4 days and participants were tested and observed using bag-valve mask devices safely and effectively. The dignity and warmth of the people at the midwifery center was astounding. Life-long friendships and deepened cultural competency were highlights for the traveling group.

The culture of Guatemala was also experienced during a trip to Tikal, location of ancient Mayan pyramids in the northern part of the country.

In March of 2019, our team of Shasta physicians, residents and an OB nurse from Mercy Medical Center traveled to Sierra Leone in West Africa to teach Helping Babies Breathe - a newborn resuscitation curriculum for third world countries.

The team was well received by The Bo School of Midwifery in Bo City. Forty-five midwives received this training as well as Helping Mothers Survive / Eclampsia courses aimed at increasing perinatal survival of both mothers and infants.

Midwives from rural Kenema District were also trained as the group traveled closer to the Liberian border.

Global Health on a humanitarian as well as an educational level is an essential element of Family Medicine training and no other specialty is as prepared to make a difference.

Dr. Lupeika, Dr. McMullin, Dr. Morgan, and Dr. Rezai, in company with two Mercy Residents as well as a NICU RN, traveled to Ghana and participated in teaching midwives the techniques of Helping Babies Breathe. A “Train the Trainers Course” was held in Accra at Lekma Regional Hospital, and then followed by a two day course in rural Assin Jakai village where 40 midwives and birthing attendants were instructed. Teaching materials and manikins were donated to the South Assin District Health Department for ongoing training in their area.

Dr. Lupeika and Dr. McMullin traveled with 4 residents and a respiratory therapist to the Caribbean island of Dominica. Home to Ross University, Dominica has two hospitals and several clinics in place. The College of Nursing and Midwifery in Roseau provided 75 learners for the Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) curriculum sponsored by the AAP and WHO. Ross students were also invited to learn and assist.

Participant travelers were trained as facilitators and trained their own students during the four days of classwork. Learners received a certification of proficiency in HBB. Great friendships were established and there was time to sightsee. Thanks to all who participated!

Dr. Trang Vo, a third-year resident, recently completed a 4 week elective in Guatemala (March 2015). Dr. Vo was involved in outpatient and inpatient care at Hospitalito Atitlan near Lake Atitlan, seeing and caring for patients of all ages. She reports her elective in Santiago/Atitlan was exceptional, especially enjoying the people she met. Dr. Vo also spent a week in the Western Highlands of Guatemala in a rural location with Mayan-Mam Midwives attending to births in primitive conditions. Dr. Vo will be returning in the future!