During my seven days stay in Grenada, I had the opportunity to visit two hospitals, Prince Alice Hospital and General Hospital. During my stay at Princess Alice Hospital, I had the chance to speak with hospital staff from all areas of the hospital to include but not limited to physicians, nurses, imaging technologists, administrators, environmental services, and clerical staff.
I learned that people are always eager to learn more and explore ways to improve practices. Unfortunately, resources are limited, and the health care providers and staff do what they can with the resources they are provided. My specific lecture was titled Mapping Research and Evidence-Based Practice. We discussed how questions arise about the process or best practice throughout the workday and what we can do to satisfy the need to answer those questions. We discussed one method of defining the issue by creating a PICO table. P (Patient, Problem), I (Intervention), C (Context/Comparison), O (Outcomes). We talked about methods for researching. They didn’t have access to databases, but we did discuss Google Scholar as an option. Ethics and consent were also part of the discussion. I broadly discussed the differences between research design methods.
At the end of the lecture, participants teamed up, each person sharing their interests and questions, any challenges anticipated, list people who could help with the research, and then we came back together as a group and discussed the interests, challenges, and the people they selected. Everyone was involved in the process and could see how making a plan, follow-through, and accountability is part of the research process.
I would not have had the opportunity to share knowledge with the Grenadian people if I had not received the RAD-AID ASRT Foundation Outreach Fellowship. The fellowship allowed me to travel to a place I had never been and was able to exchange meaningful dialogue that was beneficial for everyone I met. I am forever humbled and grateful for the experience.
UNC Global Radiology, a RAD-AID chapter, was founded in 2012 by the UNC School of Medicine’s Division of Radiologic Science and the Department of Radiology. In support of RAD-AID International, UNC Global Radiology seeks to create a global radiology community through education, collaboration, and innovation. Dr. Haugen’s visit to Grenada was part of a longitudinal relationship between RAD-AID International and the Ministry of Health in Grenada.
– Submitted by Kenya Haugen, DM, RT(R), FAEIRS, Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Radiologic Science