International (MNN) ― Massive migration in Africa by those with education and money has resulted in a lack of needed resources. Without them, illiteracy and poverty reign in many places.
CURE International's Lisa Wolf says they're fighting that with the concept of "teaching hospitals." "So many of the countries suffer from 'brain drain,' particularly with their medical professionals. They don't have the equipment that they need, and they don't have the resources. We're providing those resources and providing the training. And because they have a terrific hospital to work at--one that is taking care of both physical and spiritual needs--they want to stay."
Teaching hospitals are providers of primary care and routine patient services, as well as centers for experimental, innovative and technically sophisticated services. According to the definition of a teaching hospital, medical students typically spend two to three years in a teaching hospital doing clinical training, after completing their pre-clinical training in the medical school of a university.
It's one way a ministry like CURE International can help make a difference in a remote community. Every doctor that trains in a CURE facility takes with him that training and philosophy of medicine to a home facility.
For example, the CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda in Mbale has established a Fellowship Program for pediatric neurosurgeons. It is the only such program on the continent. Two neurosurgeons per year will study and work at CCHU, to focus their skills on children and to concentrate on a range of afflictions of the brain and central nervous system.
Another way this works is through their Program for Advanced Training in Hydrocephalus or PATH. The team has already established such a program in western Tanzania. CCHU has PATH applicants from Ghana, Zambia, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Nepal, Senegal, Honduras and Madagascar.
Wolf says their staff are also conscious of the evangelistic side of this work. "We place an equal emphasis on the physical healing of the child as well as the spiritual healing. We have been told by patients, their families, and other people who have gone to visit the hospital that there is a real sense of compassion and a real demonstration of God's love." If you want details on how you can help, click here.
