Global health projects receive funding

Krystle Campbell, simulation center manager of the UW Health Clinical Simulation Program, received a Visiting Scholar Grant to host Tewodros Haile from Addis Ababa University School of Medicine. During Haile’s visit, UW Health will collaborate with Addis Ababa to demonstrate how simulation can be effectively integrated into medical educational efforts and quality assurance measures and support the improvement of patient outcomes.

Simulation is of great interest to developing countries because it fills a need to deliver effective education to growing medical schools, as is the case in Ethiopia, Campbell says. In many developing countries, medical schools are addressing the shortage of medical providers by expanding their class size. This increase, however, has left a shortage in bedside teaching opportunities and clinical instructors’ time for teaching.

“GHI funding for our project means that (UW Health) is able to provide a unique experience for our passionate colleagues at Addis Ababa University wishing to expand their simulation program,” Campbell says. “We hope by the end of this partnership, we will have provided AAU the proper tools, knowledge, and experience in simulation to be self-sustainable. We also hope to use this experience to refine our program’s partnership paradigm and disseminate it to help other interested sites be successful in future partnership endeavors.”

Also earning Global Health Institute funding:

• Karen Patterson, a faculty associate in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, earned a Faculty and Staff Travel Award for “Integrating rehabilitative services within an educational setting for children with significant development disabilities in Peru.”
• Kenneth Kushner, PhD, professor of family medicine, hosting Jing Ding from China, earned a Visiting Scholar Award for “The effect of doctor-patient service agreements on the level of quality and continuity of care in Chinese community health service centers.”
• Girma Tefera, MD, hosting James Munthali and Emmanuel Makasa from University of Zambia, earned a Visiting Scholar Award for “Building surgical training partnership.”

In total, the institute awarded funding to 15 projects dedicated to improving health and well-being for people, animals and the planet: two Faculty and Staff Travel Awards, eight Graduate Student Research Awards and five Visiting Scholar Awards.