Med grad completes rotation in Tanzania
by Cindy AbolePublic Relations
When medicine graduate Anne Morrison considered her medical practice elective in her final year, she never dreamed she could complete a rare opportunity half way around the world that would combine her interests in surgery and public health.
Medicine graduate
Dr. Anne Morrison worked under the guidance of Dr. Paul Kisanga, Selian
Lutheran Hospital in Arusha, Tanzania.A Charleston native, Morrison completed a month-long rotation working with medical professionals and gaining hands-on surgical and clinical care experiences at a small hospital located in the foothills south of Mount Kilimanjaro.
It is part of a new medical rotation elective and partnership established between MUSC and Selian Lutheran Hospital in Arusha, Tanzania. Opened in the 1950s, the 120-bed facility provides full-service care for patients in the areas of medicine, surgical, OB/GYN and pediatrics. The hospital and affiliated clinic serves approximately 55,000 outpatients per year, performs an average of 100 surgical procedures and 30 deliveries a month.
During their senior year, medical students must complete a minimum of eight four-week rotations. In addition to taking a clinical externship, students must also fulfill month-long medical core rotations in internal medicine, psychiatry, emergency medicine/critical care and ambulatory surgery, plus fill some block electives. Morrison wanted a different experience and sought to combine her medical specialty interests— surgery and public health—in her remaining elective block.
She looked for guidance from MUSC pediatrician and international health expert Andrea Summer, M.D., who completed a medical experience at Selian Hospital just last March.
“To me, going to Tanzania was a new opportunity,” said Morrison, whose interest in international medicine was seeded after mission trips to Honduras and Kenya prior to medical school. As a medical student, Morrison participated in Summer’s International Health and Tropical Medicine seminar series and later helped establish the campus’ interdisciplinary Public Health Interest Group.
With Summer’s help, Morrison coordinated her externship with Selian Hospital in fall 2004 and arrived in Tanzania in late January.
“The benefits of global health electives, particularly those in developing areas, can be far reaching. Students often experience changes in world views and expanded social, community and public health awareness,” said Summer. “What we’ve initiated is a clinical practice exchange to help encourage MUSC students, residents and faculty towards new and exciting opportunities for learning, practice, teaching and research.”
Morrison worked primarily with the hospital’s surgeon, Paul Kisanga, M.D. Morrison shadowed him as a primary surgery assistant in surgeries and clinics. While there, she observed various endoscopy procedures, saw hip and knee replacements, plus trauma caused by burns, farming accidents, and other procedures. In clinics and wards, she saw textbook diagnoses of patients from the beginning to the end of care and saw conclusions based solely upon the patient’s physical exams and medical histories.
“Even with the presence of the best doctors and tools for diagnosis, I soon realized that doctors here can’t cure everything,” Morrison said.
The hospital also demonstrated good palliative care support for patients diagnosed with AIDS, orphan care and hospice patients. Through its community health project, the staff are able to reach people through community outreach and prevention education in the areas of AIDS, school health, and nutrition.
As for cultural adjustments, Morrison fit right in. She shared a rental house with other visiting resident-physicians and medical students in a small town near the hospital. Although the hospital staff knew English, she took every opportunity to practice her Swahili, the country’s native language. During her free time, she traveled, shopped at open markets and chose activities that would allow her to meet and interact with people. Altogether, she adjusted to the easy pace of the country, simplicity of its people and learned a pole (pronounced “poh-lee”) lifestyle, which translates to a slow, enjoyable life.
“This experience helped me to broaden my horizons,” Morrison said. “It helped me learn to look at the world and its people from a different perspective. It gave me the opportunity and encouragement to do things and share new experiences that I could only imagine. I hope MUSC’s curriculum continues to promote student public health and international medicine with all students.”
So what’s next for this world traveler?
Following today’s graduation, Morrison will begin a seven-year surgical and bench research residency program at Baylor University where she will also receive a master’s in public health.
For more information about the Selian Lutheran Hospital medical practice election, contact Summer at summera@musc.edu
Friday, May 20, 2005
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