I didn't think so.
I've done an abysmally bad job of disseminating the news about my upcoming jaunt back to East Africa; it hasn't required fundraising (though I do welcome prayer support!), it's only two weeks, and normal people disappear for two weeks all the time... don't they? But since I want to get ready for this adventure with you, and blogs are off-limits next week per the Church of the Cross Lenten fasting schedule, it's time to get something down in writing...
Last fall - actually, while I was at Tenwek - I got an email from a colleague here in Boston, recommending me for an opportunity to teach at the University of Nairobi in their new pediatric anesthesia fellowship. It's the first pediatric-specific anesthesia training in East Africa, and as a result, some international anesthesia groups have pledged various kinds of support to the fledgling program. Part of this commitment was an agreement to sponsor four visiting faculty over the course of the year who could teach in areas which would contribute significantly to the local expertise. One of those areas was critical care, and with my prior experience in Kenya and desire to do more in education globally, it seemed like a great opportunity.
In traditional Kenyan style, details have been relatively slow to filter into my inbox, but I'm starting to gain some clarity about what my time there is likely to look like. I'll be traveling with Faye Evans, a Children's anesthesiologist who has been involved in supporting this program. We fly out on Friday, arriving Saturday evening in Nairobi with a day to settle in before the week starts. We're told we'll be staying at Gertrude Children's Hospital, though I assume it's actually a guesthouse we'll be bunking in, not a spare hospital room. The week, however, will mainly be spent at Kenyatta National Hospital. I'm scheduled to give a didactic lecture to the anesthesia fellows there each morning, and then follow along on ICU rounds. In the afternoon there should be time for small group teaching, which I hope to be more interactive in nature and which will hopefully involve some pediatrics residents as well. There will be weekly pediatric "mini-rounds" (ask me what that is after I actually experience it) and hospital grand rounds to attend, and I can only imagine what else will fill the holes in my day. Whatever it is, I'm sure it won't be boring!
There it is. A little vague, but definitely exciting. The more experienced I have become in medicine, the more I have also realized that much of my excitement in serving overseas, regardless of the setting, has to do with education. I can't imagine ever giving up patient care, but it's the old teach-a-man-to-fish proverb, really. As much as I love being of service to individual patients I come in contact with - and the relationships that come with it - it means even more to be a part of equipping the people who will be caring for the next hundred children who come through the door.
So. Read along, pray with me, be excited with me. I can't wait to see what God has in store this time.
