My Roles
Observing surgery at Mbale Regional Referral Hopsital
While interning with the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children, I took on a variety of different roles. My primary task was evaluating the Community Health Educator (CHE) program. For more information on the program, please click here. I met with all 22 CHEs to obtain feedback on the program and evaluate their knowledge of the topics they are supposed to be familiar with. I also surveyed households in the communities served by the CHEs to determine the reach of the CHE program, the community perceptions of the CHE program and local health problems, and to evaluate the sanitation and hygiene of the home using the clinic's checklist for a "good" home. This checklist included things like using mosquito nets, boiling water to drink, maintaining a clean latrine and bathing shelter, and keeping children's immunizations up to date.
Aside from my work evaluating the CHE program, I did the following:
Aside from my work evaluating the CHE program, I did the following:
- Taught health education lessons at local schools and community group meetings on topics such as oral hygiene, puberty and sexual health, STIs, and wounds and infections
- Visited local health centers to gain a better understanding of Ugandan health care in a larger framework
- Assisted with routine clinical duties by taking vital signs, distributing medications, and assisting in the lab
- Assisted with specialized clinics, including the maternal and child health (MCH) clinic and tubal ligation & vasectomy clinic operated by Marie Stopes International
- Helped with administrative tasks