The Global Health Academic Concentration
Follow UC San Diego School of Medicine's GHAC students around the world.
When I joined the GHAC program, I knew that I wanted to travel to Sub-Saharan Africa. I was eager to understand more about the region, and to have an opportunity to learn from physicians, fellow students, and patients there. Fortunately, I found a project working with American physicians Dr. Sierra Washington and Christy Zachek, and … Continue reading Mapping maputo
I am just finishing up my 6th week (and 400th chart, hooray!) collecting data on post-partum hemorrhaging at Maputo Central Hospital (MCH). To start, Maputo is the capital of Mozambique and is a large city. It has approximately 2 million people spread out over 130 square miles. MCH is the main public hospital serving all of … Continue reading Post Partum Hemorrhaging at Maputo Central Hospital
Força! A professor enthusiastically told me after I described the project our team was working on, and I thought to myself: force? What did he mean? Força is a term of encouragement offering energy and motivation to keep doing what you are doing. Everyone here has been very supportive, enthusiastic, and dedicated to the research … Continue reading Força
First impressions, gut instincts, and intuition are interesting things. We are taught, whether blatantly or subconsciously, to trust these feelings—It’s necessary. They help make rapid decision-making possible. The ER doctor in the middle of running a code, the police officer responding to a call, the solo female traveler walking down an unknown street, they all … Continue reading First Impressions
My experience trying to do research in Mozambique was first and foremost a lesson in patience. I think any time people from different cultures, experiences, or training levels are working together, patience and openness are the key to that relationship. Mozambique certainly presents a culture that is much slower pace and significantly more patient than … Continue reading Lessons in Patience and Resilience
When I decided that I’d sit and write a bit about my research once I hit a milestone, I didn’t figure that would be five weeks in and only days before I finish up my work here in Mozambique. If research is unpredictable by nature, doing research here seems to require a bit more of … Continue reading Getting Things Done On Mozambique Time
I am here in Manhica at the Centrao de Investação de Saúde em Manhiça (CISM). Situated just next to the hospital, the center functions as both the diagnostic lab for the hospital and a research center. Thus, when I am not in the lab, I am able to observe some of the activities of the … Continue reading Bim vindo a Mozambique!