Global Health in Cape Coast, Ghana

“Let The World Change You“ is the slogan of Child Family Health International and that’s exactly what I did during my time of the global health in Ghana program. Becoming a sponge and soaking up the experience to what i was surrounded with is the best thing I could’ve done. From the shadowing at the hospital to being immersed into the culture, everything was amazing. Our coordinator showed us great hospitality as well , we even had home cooked meal EVERY night! Beyond thankful for that. I am beyond grateful for this experience that was both personal and professional. I can’t wait to continue to work toward my career of becoming a physician assistant!

Photos

I decided to go with CFHI as part of my global health elective for medical school because of the wide variety of locations they have. I really wanted to go to Ghana and experience healthcare in another country, predominately in a hospital setting. CFHI provided me with an opportunity to rotate with different services at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital and also provided me with everlasting memories that I will never forget. I made connections with residents and house officers who I deeply respect. There wasn't much help in getting there but once I was there things just started to fall together. I would suggest to anyone wanting to go to another country to look into CFHI due to its variety of program locations and also the ability to work in an already established setting. In addition, there are weekly lectures that introduce students to Ghana and public health. I do suggest that you be diligent and on top of making sure you have all of your required documents before hand and its correct because there wasn't much assistance with ensuring the information was up-to-date. Take a look at the variety of things to do in both Cape Coast and Accra (3hrs away by van) for weekend activities as well. The program is what you make out of it. There is definitely time to explore and to learn so your trip is what you want it to be.

I decided to go with CFHI as part of my global health elective for medical school because of the wide variety of locations they have. I really wanted to go to Ghana and experience healthcare in another country, predominately in a hospital setting. CFHI provided me with an opportunity to rotate with different services at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital and also provided me with everlasting memories that I will never forget. I made connections with residents and house officers who I deeply respect. There wasn't much help in getting there but once I was there things just started to fall together. I would suggest to anyone wanting to go to another country to look into CFHI due to its variety of program locations and also the ability to work in an already established setting. In addition, there are weekly lectures that introduce students to Ghana and public health. I do suggest that you be diligent and on top of making sure you have all of your required documents before hand and its correct because there wasn't much assistance with ensuring the information was up to date. Take a look at the variety of things to do in both Cape Coast and Accra (3hrs away by van) for weekend activities as well. The program is what you make out of it. There is definitely time to explore and to learn so your trip is what you want it to be.

I'm Tinu. A 4th year medical student at Boston University School of Medicine. I participated in a hybrid program in Cape Coast Ghana: Social Development, Empowerment & Health at a community clinic, and Hospital Medicine at a Teaching Hospital. My experience with CFHI Ghana was great! The local institutions I worked with were clearly accustomed to having visiting students and their familiarity allowed for my experience with them to be productive for both me and them. The individuals I worked with at these institutions did a solid job of incorporating me into their team by delegating clear discrete tasks to me which made me feel like a valued member of the team. My last day at the community clinic where I was serving as an outreach intern was one of many rewarding days during this experience. The morning began with HIV testing at the Cape Coast School for the Deaf and Blind – a school that had been targeted due to the vulnerability of its students. Students were taught about HIV and at the start of the session, few hands went up with regards to interest in HIV testing. At the end of the session, which included counseling on the benefits of HIV testing, many more students were interested in testing. We ended up testing over 200 individuals over the course of four hours. While it was incredibly busy, it was rewarding to partake in providing care that they might have otherwise not received. Later that afternoon, a CFHI co-intern and I led a comprehensive sexuality education session for 15 adolescent girls in the clinic conference room. We spoke on “How Pregnancy Occurs” and “Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights”. It felt good to nerd out about some basic obstetrics/gynecology concepts that I had learned in way back in the 1st and 2nd years of medical school. Left to my devices I would have drawn out the menstrual cycle with estrogen, progesterone, LH, and FSH levels (LOL). The girls had a lot of great questions and by the end of the session they were able to echo back some of our teaching points. It was again rewarding to know that they were armed with more knowledge about their bodies and rights. My experiences at the various local institutions weren’t the only great things about my CFHI experience. The CFHI local coordinators went out of their way to ensure that I was well settled. They checked in frequently about ways my experience could be improved and made many changes in real-time. The country director was also clearly invested in participants having the most meaningful experience possible and made arrangements - such as my hybrid experience - to this effect. I left the experience wishing my stay was for more than four weeks, and I am already thinking about my next global health experience with CFHI!

I am a second-year medical student and I went to Accra, Ghana through the CFHI program! I rotated in the ER department and was able to round with the fifth-year medical students from Accra College of Medicine and Family Health Medical School. On my first day I rounded with the fifth-year medical students and I was terrified and intimidated. The way they presented, answered the doctor’s questions and interrogations on details about their cases, and dissected their differentials was astounding. With only one year of medical school under my belt, I felt useless and unknowledgeable compared to them. However, I tried to stay as engaged as I could, listening to patients’ hearts and lungs, interpreting x-rays and EKGs, and perfecting the craft of the history and physical exam. This coming year we’ll learn more about chronic illnesses and management, so I’ll be able to deepen my clinical knowledge and skills. I was happy that I was able to recognize a lot of drug names since Pharm is one of my favorite classes and could ask questions about treatment plans and care management. Most of the pediatric cases were acute tonsillitis, acute otitis media, bronchopneumonia, bronchiolitis, and complications of sickle cell disease (SCD). I was able to see an infant that was diagnosed with Trisomy 21 aka Down syndrome and had a heart murmur. I was also able to see a patient that had a palpable thrill and murmur. I sat in on my first Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) meeting and learned a lot about that part of medical care. I also participated in various lectures on proper handwashing skills, stages and treatment of malnutrition, how to properly clean the umbilical cord postpartum, triaging, and common respiratory/cardiovascular diseases in children. One of the most memorable days was when I clerked with one of the fifth-year medical students. His partner wasn’t coming till the afternoon, so I was there to make sure he asked all of the right questions. We exchanged mnemonics on the history of present illness (we learned OLDCARTS and he learned SOCRATES) and social history. I quickly jotted down all the aspects of the history that should be asked and felt grateful that my school had forced us to create our own SOAP note from scratch countless times. He was grateful that I was able to ensure he asked all of the necessary questions. Our main differential was Vaso-occlusive crisis as a complication of SCD. Our other differentials were osteomyelitis and cellulitis. Both doctors ended up supporting our top differential and it felt good to be able to come up with the correct diagnosis. The child also had otitis media but we weren’t sure if it was secondary to the SCD since they are more prone to infections, or independent of the SCD. All in all I learned a lot this week, more than I ever thought I would and I’m so excited to rotate in other parts of the hospital. This experience is strengthening my desire to go into Family Medicine even more apparent and necessary.

In February I traveled to Accra, Ghana and worked in Princess Marie Louise, a Pediatric hospital partnering with Child Family Health International. The attending physicians, residents and staff were happy to have us and worked to make our experience as fourth year medical students rewarding and professionally enriching. The in-country staff described the many ways CFHI helps to support the work of the hospital, including contributing to a needy fund for patients and fixing equipment in the facility. This gave me confidence that my program fee was well spent. CFHI coordinators also worked to make sure we had a fun and safe experience. The CFHI home team in San Fran followed up with us on our experience when we got back to the US. I recommend the program to those interested in learning more about West Africa and seeing how medicine is practiced in resource-challenged settings.