Global Health Office of Anesthesia Initiatives
Department of Anesthesia faculty members have a strong history of global engagement and outreach. Anesthesia was the first department in North America to offer education and training to anesthesia professionals practising overseas. Faculty members have participated in training missions to Africa, and conducted research in Asia and the Middle East.
Partnership with National University of Rwanda, Department of Anesthesia
The Department of Anesthesia has participated in the Canadian Anesthesiologists Society International Education Fund (CASIEF) program in Rwanda since 2007. Since 2007, a handful of staff anesthesiologists and residents from the department have travelled to Rwanda on an annual basis to provide education, training and support to postgraduate residents and nurse anesthetists. Department of Anesthesia faculty are among academic anesthesiologists from across Canada who travel to Rwanda for an average of four weeks at a time.
CASIEF is working with the National University of Rwanda to expand and strengthen its residency program in anesthesia. In February 2010, two postgraduate residents from the University of Rwanda came to Halifax for six months to train in the Department of Anesthesia. Two more Rwandan residents participated in the elective from January to June 2011.
To view A Guide for Volunteers Traveling to Rwanda, which outlines how to prepare for your travels as well as what your life in Rwanda would entail please click here (due to size of the document, please allow a few minutes for the document to load).
IKINYA is a new film (2010) about Canadian volunteers helping to run the anesthesia training program in Rwanda. The 23-minute film also explains how the program came about, and offers some fresh glimpses into the Land of a Thousand Hills.
IKINYA is recommended viewing, not only for potential volunteers but also for their families. To view IKINYA, please click here.
For more information on the Rwanda program, please click on the following article: Teaching Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management in Rwanda, East Africa.
Also, please take some time to source the following article as well:
Twagirumugabe, T., Carli F. Rwandan Anesthesia Residency Program: A Model of North-South Educational Partnership. International Anesthesiology Clinics. 2010; Volume 48, Number 2, 71-78.
Participation in Kybele
Department of Anesthesia faculty and residents volunteer with Kybele, particularly to improve maternal care in Ghana. Kybele is a humanitarian organization dedicated to improving childbirth conditions worldwide through medical education partnerships.
Global Health Fellowship
The Department of Anesthesia has established a Global Health Fellowship and is seeking exceptional candidates. The goal of the fellowship is to prepare anesthesiologists for careers in global health work. It also aims to equip fellows with the needed tools to establish an anesthesia training program in developing countries.
During the 12-month fellowship, the successful candidate will practice and teach at the QEII Health Sciences Centre - the largest tertiary care hospital in Atlantic Canada - and at the affiliated hospitals of the National University of Rwanda. He or she will learn from faculty who have experience practicing anesthesia in resource poor countries.
The global health fellow will have the opportunity to participate in two unique courses, established to prepare anesthesiologists for work in developing countries: “Anesthesia for Developing Countries” in Kampala, Uganda and “Anesthesia in Challenging Environments” in Halifax, Canada. He/she will also be able to undertake an elective in their specific area of interest.
For more information about the fellowship, please read the fellowship web page, or contact:
Megan Chipp
Education Coordinator
megan.chipp@cdha.nshealth.ca
Phone: 902.473.5428
