One of the highlights of my four years in residency was the month I got to spend in Ethiopia. My rotation in Addis was mainly focused on Gynecologic Oncology, in a country that has one external beam radiation machine for 88 million people and no resources for national pap smear screening. The pathology I got to see and operate on was in a volume and complexity that we just don't see in our privileged health care system.
I was able to benefit from a week I spent with Dr. Horowitz during which I learned more than just surgery; I also learned how to develop collaborations with physicians from different cultures who work in different conditions and have different expectations of care. I was able to increase my cultural sensitivity and have a better understanding of the differences in approaching different patient populations. Being able to spend a week with him learning from him, watching his interactions with the doctors there, and picking his brain every night was invaluable mentorship time that meant the world to me.
Another part of my responsibilities there was medical student teaching. I had to adapt my lectures to the resources in the country. What use is an external fetal monitoring lecture when the only form of fetal monitoring available is a good old fetoscope!
Obstetric fistulas has been a passion of mine since my undergraduate years at The American University of Beirut. Part of my motivation to go into medicine was Dr. Catherine Hamlin, a pioneer who developed a lot of what we know on obstetric fistulas. Not only did I get to meet her and have coffee with her, but I even got to operate with her! I spent a week in the Hamlin Fistula Clinic where I was operating and effectively curing women of their continuous leakage of urine and feces. I cannot think of a more rewarding achievement in my life.
On my last day at the Hamlin Clinic, I confessed to Dr. Hamlin that she was one of my idols going into medicine and her book was why I got interested in OB GYN. I told her that if I could have 10 percent of the impact she had on the world I would feel like I fulfilled something great in my life. She looked at me, gave me an 88 year old smile and said, "you are here and that's half the battle. Now go change the world."
I cannot say enough about what the month I spent in Ethiopia has done for my personal and professional maturation. I learned so much more than medicine there.
--Abed Sinno, MD