Ghana 2024
Ghana 2024
Ghana 2024
Ghana 2024
Ghana 2024
Ghana 2024
Ghana 2024
Ghana 2024
Ghana 2024
Ghana 2024
Ghana 2024
Ghana 2024Date: September 19th, 2024 - October 1st, 2024
Location: Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital; Mampong, Ghana
Mission Leader: Dr. Ziad Sifri
Volunteers: 30
Length of Mission: 12 days
This was ISHI’s ninth mission and tenth year in partnership with the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital (TQMH) in Mampong, Ghana. It was ISHI’s 30th mission. ISHI was once again invited back to TQMH with the approval from the hospital leadership Drs. Albert Benneh and Mawuli Gyakobo, as well as the regional tribal leaders, to continue and expand upon the work done in previous years.
We anticipated to offer clinical care and facilitate the exchange of technical and intellectual information. Surgeries planned for included: inguinal and ventral hernia repairs, hysterectomies, mass excisions, hydrocelectomies, prostatectomies, and burn scar reconstruction with skin graft. We offered general surgical operations, as well as surgical subspecialty care within the realm of Urology, OBGYN, and Plastic Surgery.
Patients were alerted weeks to months before the mission via recruitment from the local healthcare team. They were then phone-screened by the local healthcare workers to ensure efficient triage.
Mission objectives:
Collaborate with the local clinical team to provide surgical and medical care;
Instruct on a daily basis;
Provide structured ultrasound, basic life support, and advanced cardiovascular life support training for the local providers at TQMH; and,
Implement new equipment to be used in a Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP)
Patient care objectives:
Perform 80 major surgical operations in five operative days
Perform medical consultations
Perform structured diagnostic ultrasound course for local healthcare workers
Deliver medication, supplies and equipment as donations to the TQMH
Donate equipment for the ability to perform a TURP to the TQMH
Teaching objectives:
Teach local staff at bedside, the wards/in the emergency department, and in the OR
Teach local staff training in Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
Teach the Stop the Bleed interactive course to the local staff
Provide advanced ultrasound training
Provide teaching in anesthesia topics such as regional nerve blocks
ISHI used medications and supplies already in inventory/storage and purchased additional while on-site at TQMH. Further perishable and non-perishable supplies, such as sutures and medication, were obtained by donation from MAP/Ethicon, the Afya Foundation, Brother’s Brother Foundation, Americares, and Henry Schein. ISHI surgical instruments were used, and many supplies were re-processed and sterilized from the RECOVER Program out of Rutgers–New Jersey Medical School. A dermatome was donated by University Hospital, and a RECELL Autologous Cell Harvesting Device was donated by Avita Medical to ISHI to treat burn wounds and contractures. Equipment necessary to perform a transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) was donated to ISHI and the TQMH, a first for any ISHI trip. Additional donations came from Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, NY-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, and the Burn Surgeons of St. Barnabas.
Volunteers: 30 volunteers worked on the mission across various states in the United States.
*All volunteers had a safe and enjoyable experience
Patient care:
Performed 85 operations
Triaged/performed general surgical, trauma, and medical consultations
Performed urologic and plastic surgical consultations
Performed short-term follow-up and treatment/consultation for post-operative issues
Delivered and donated medication & supplies to TQMH
Teaching:
80+ hours of hands-on teaching and demonstrations to local staff, including on circulating techniques during operative cases
Teaching of anesthesia topics, including regional nerve blocks, to the local staff
Teaching 180 local staff training in Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
Continued knowledge exchange and collaboration with the local CRNAs
Continual knowledge exchange between ISHI and local ward nurses
Hands-on ultrasound training administered
Teaching basic cystoscopy
Donations:
Equipment necessary to perform a Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP)
Cystoscope to perform diagnostic cystoscopy
Personal and surgical hygiene equipment
Operative equipment, including sterile gloves and suture
RECELL Autologous Cell Harvesting Device
>50 IV and urinary catheters
Supplies to the Mother/Baby unit of the hospital
25 Stop the Bleed tourniquets to the Emergency Room Staff
We are happy to report that the ISHI team completed safe operations, and all patients are recovering well. The mission included patients from various towns throughout the region. With our strong operative team, we performed hysterectomies for massive fibroids and ovarian masses, multiple hernia repairs, hydrocele repairs, mass excisions, hand surgeries, burn scar contracture surgeries, skin grafts, and prostatectomies. Max Munoz MD, Kimberly Gray RN, and Shahenda Khedr remained at TQMH after the mission for follow-up, reporting no major issues and high levels of satisfaction amongst the patients.
Education continued to be a major focus of the mission. Our Medicine team led by Drs. Felix Afriyie MD, Natasha Puri MD, and Daniel Acquah hosted structured advanced ultrasound, Basic Life Support (BLS), and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) training.
Bedside knowledge exchange occurred throughout the day while our volunteer nurses worked together with the local training of OR nurses in the theater where many nurses built on last year’s training. Over the years, we have enjoyed close relationships with these nurses, many of whom serve TQMH on a long-term basis.
A telemedicine project facilitated by ISHI is ongoing between TQMH and Rutgers NJMS. Over the past year, educational modules were broadcast from the US to enhance resident education in Ghana.
We hope to continue to help the people of the Akuapem region and Ghana as a whole, building surgical capacity and facilitating knowledge exchange.
Surgical Team: Vladislav Bargman MD, Edward Lee MD, Alaine Sharpe MD, Konstantin Khariton DO, Alex Addo MD, Max Munoz MD, Gabriel Fernandez MD, Veronica Layrisse MD, Christopher Didzbalis MD
Anesthesia: Zoulfira Nisnevitch MD, Jose Chu Luo MD, Rajan Lala MD, Joy Quitiquit CRNA, Phil Knowles CRNA, Megan Maniscalco SRNA
Respiratory Tech: Marie Mondesir RT
Nurses: Hannah Asare-Boateng RN, Tracey Bradley RN, Kristin Knowles RN, Kathryn McCarty RN, Kimberly Gray RN, Roberta Barton RN, Laurie Retzlaff RN
Medical/Ultrasound: Felix Afriyie MD, Natasha Puri MD
Logistics Tea: Amanda Schaufele, Maya Nisnevitch, Daniel Acquah, Shahenda Khedr
Mission Team Leader: Ziad Sifri MD
Thank you to all 2024 volunteers for all the hard work and making it a successful and memorable mission - and thank you to all of our donors who make our missions possible!
In Ghana:
The Hon. Helen Ntoso, Regional Minister, for hosting the team
The Hon. Nana Otoobour Djan Kwasi II and Queen Mother Awo Adwoa Amenei for inviting us to provide services in the Aburi region
The Hon. Nana Nellie Kemevor: Local champion coordinating the local logistics with the ISHI team to support our effort in Mampong
Dr. Albert Benneh, Medical Superintendent at the TQMH
Dr. Mawuli Gyakobo, Ghanaian College of Physicians and Surgeons
Alice Esinam RN, TQMH
Logistical support:
Americares, the Afya Foundation, Brother’s Brother Foundation, and MAP International for Donating Surgical supplies and materials
Rutgers - NJMS RECOVER Initiative – medical student volunteers organized the collection and re-processing/sterilization of clean/unused medical supplies that would otherwise be discarded from the operating room and other patient care areas. The salvage of such supplies represents an enormous environmental benefit.
