RUHS EM Residents Travel Abroad for Global Health Outreach
From left to right: RUHS EM Resident Ruben Marchosky, RUHS Dr. Stephanie Loe, and RUHS EM Resident Tristen Burt in Mozambique, East Africa.
Vituity Cares Foundation has partnered with Pledge Health, a nonprofit organization in Mozambique, East Africa, to give several of our Vituity partners and two RUHS Emergency Medicine Residents the opportunity to be involved in medical mission work and humanitarian outreach. Pledge Health was founded by Vituity partner Kevin Lunney of St John’s Regional who pioneered the very first EM residency in Mozambique in 2017. The residency’s leadership, mentorship, and education have been guided by physician volunteers from the US and abroad.
This year, Vituity Cares Foundation sponsored our two EM residents from RUHS to work with Pledge and their EM residents in Maputo, Mozambique. Dr. Louis Tran and Dr. Stephanie Loe, volunteered to assist second-year residents Tristen Burt and Ruben Marchosky, in a one-month elective in Maputo, Mozambique. Dr. Loe shares the importance of medical volunteerism and the amazing opportunities that these trips provide for physicians to hone critical skills and give back to underserved communities.
Dr. Loe co-founded Riverside International Outreach Team (RIOT), a nonprofit organization in Southern California to volunteer in developing countries and low-resource areas including Guatemala, Nigeria, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya. We provide clinical work, medical supplies, and education and have established a partnership with Pledge and Vituity Cares to help keep Mozambique residency training and education sustainable.
Mozambique is a developing country in southeast Africa. According to the World Bank ranking system of 2023, based on gross national income per capita, Mozambique is the third poorest country in the world. The life expectancy is 55 years, and the infant mortality is very high. HIV is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in Mozambique and affects 13% of the adult population, while other common causes of death include tuberculosis, malaria, stroke, lower respiratory infections, ischemic heart disease, diarrheal diseases, congenital defects, and road injuries. There is also no functioning EMS system in the country and the field of emergency medicine is a newly developed concept.
Our Vituity sponsored RUHS EM residents worked at Hospital Central de Maputo to gain exposure to medical care in an austere environment while learning about different infectious pathologies. They learned how to navigate public health challenges and lack of resources, while providing lectures and didactics to Mozambican physicians. The experience is incredible and of immense educational value for both the Mozambican and US residents. They assist with critical care management, resuscitation, emergent procedures, and bedside education while giving daily morning lectures, practicing board review, and providing patient care simulations for all hospital staff and lead weekly didactics.