Podcast

It is the general idea that the short-term missions is one sided. Often creating dependency- teams from USA go to the underdeveloped country to help and bring short term relief and address felt needs in the comminutes of the countries they visit. While that may be true, ‘passing on of skills’ showcases how the trend can be reversed and these very missions can impact providing long term and sustainable projects and help move from ‘relief’ to ‘development’ and self sustaining mode. Caleb Rayapati, will show case how the “Pass on the skills” is making an impact on the ground, a firsthand account of the partnering mission using the Dental Outreach skills in self sustaining method, involved in community development in India impacting through practice of Biblical wholisim- a first hand account of how Indian Church has impacted using health care skills.

Single medical professionals are resilient in a cross-cultural setting and have the opportunity to be highly effective in service. The greatest challenges impact the personal home life of the individual. Applications to increase resiliency in the personal life will be explored with attention given to the relational and sexual domains of life. The worship will include a presentation followed by designated time to pose questions and dialog about the material.

Neonatal survival in resource-limited countries is much lower than in industrialized nations. Twin pregnancies and breech presentations are at higher risker for poor neonatal outcomes. Birth asphyxia and prematurity are the two of the leading causes for neonatal deaths. Risks factors for stillbirths and early neonatal deaths such as post-term pregnancy are discussed. Treatment of birth asphyxia with hypothermia is highlighted as well as treatment of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) with bubble CPAP. Specific patient case scenarios from the Zimba Mission Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) have been collected. Cost-effective strategies modified for the developing world can improve neonatal outcomes.

When a couple young doctors approached me after a plenary session and requested I mentor them, I had no idea what that meant or even how I could do it. When this request was repeated after another conference more, it caught my attention and I laid out a plan. I then enlisted 17 young medical doctors and medical students as mentees in an innovative but structured 3 year mentorship program. The impact in advancing cross cultural medical missions has been significant. I wish I had started this earlier and set time as a priority to pass on what I have learnt to others. What really is mentoring and what lessons can we learn, together, from this model and the cohort’s, experience. This session will be testimonial, hearing from mentees and the mentor.

Learn what a disaster response nurse does and what life is like before, during and after a deployment.  Hear stories about caring for patients after earthquakes, typhoons, Ebola, Cholera, and war.  Learn the skills you need and the next steps to take to be a part of a DART team.