The year 2020 reminds us that humanity is a connected, global community. Rather than pause during the pandemic, the UNC Department of Radiology’s global health program strengthened our partnerships and created a robust infrastructure for UNC resident and medical student global radiology education. Currently, we support three established, longitudinal programs with RAD-AID International. Here are a few highlights from this year:
In Kenya, we…
1) helped launch an interventional radiology (IR) fellowship at the University of Nairobi (UoN), in which Kenya’s inaugural two IR fellows have matriculated
2) hosted a two-day IR virtual conference with over 100 attendees from Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and the United States
3) donated $2,000 to UoN to purchase masks to help protect our colleagues and their patients during the pandemic
In Malawi, we …
1) facilitated case conferences to support a formal ultrasound curriculum given to 17 learners in Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH)’s Department of Radiology in Lilongwe
2) donated $3,500 to KCH to purchase masks, bleach, gloves, and soap to help protect our colleagues and their patients during the pandemic
3) continue to support: a) a Malawian physician in radiology training, b) a Malawian technologist to attend ultrasound school, and c) the lead Malawian technologist in finishing his master’s degree (new in 2020)
In North Carolina, we …
1) understand that global health includes our own population and that access disparities exist within the United States
2) seek to understand systemic breast cancer screening access barriers for under-served populations
3) aim to create solutions that deliver more equitable care for all North Carolinians
To support our UNC trainees and students, we …
1) established the Global Health Leadership Pathway, which is a residency track with mentorship, targeted global radiology curriculum, and project integration,
2) have three inaugural residents admitted to the pathway, and
3) created a global radiology medical student elective for MS4s interested in our field
Thank you for being part of the UNC Global Radiology community!
Through the Global Radiology Initiatives fund, we are raising support for Kenyan UoN trainees to visit UNC as part of our IR learning exchange, and we aim to donate a new ultrasound unit with service agreement in Malawi to complement KCH’s educational aims. We look forward to advancing the UNC Global Radiology, a RAD-AID Chapter, in 2021 with your participation and support!
Thank you,
Melissa Culp, M.Ed., RT(R)(MR)
Director, UNC Global Radiology, a RAD-AID Chapter
Clinical Associate Professor of Radiology