GO TRAVEL Award to support Constance Shreckengost's sabbatical in Bolivia
APRIL 2020
Emory surgical resident Constance Shreckengost, MD, PhD, is the 2020 recipient of the GO-TRAVEL Award (Global Outreach Traveling Resident Award to Visit, Experience and Learn), which will assist in funding her participation in the Emory Trauma and Surgical Initiative in Bolivia beginning in July. GO-TRAVEL Awards are sponsored by the Emory University School of Medicine Alumni Board to support resident education provided by unique international training experiences.
The Bolivian Trauma and Surgical Initiative began as a collaboration of the Emory Department of Surgery and the Northwestern Trauma and Surgical Initiative, an organization dedicated to building sustainable access to surgical care through education and research in low resource settings. Based in Santa Cruz, the Bolivian Initiative's mission is to develop evidence-based policy and interventions for injury prevention and trauma care to reduce morbidity and mortality from trauma in the country.
Dr. Shreckengost will build on the work of the initiative's previous fellows, Erica Ludi, MD, and Alexandra Reitz, MD, both Emory general surgery residents, to strengthen the region's trauma system and local surgical capacity. She will serve as a consultant to the Santa Cruz State Departmental Health Service to maintain and improve a hospital-based trauma registry. She is also expected to promote publications and presentations at both the local and international levels, improve coordination and organization of the pre-hospital network, assist with surgical and trauma capacity assessments and local research capacity building, and lead courses and workshops in trauma first response, Advanced Trauma Life Support, and other surgical education classes for both medical professionals and community members.
Dr. Shreckengost has a proven track-record in global health, with previous efforts including investigations of HIV/AIDS policies in India and women's health and nutrition in rural Haiti. Her work as a Fulbright Scholar researching educational systems in Senegal and her teaching activities with the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative have influenced her prioritization of the exchange of knowledge and skills between cultures.
"I will draw on these prior experiences to enhance my work with the Bolivian Trauma and Surgical Initiative, and look forward to continuing and expanding the efforts begun by my Emory co-residents and Bolivian colleagues," she says.
The timeframe and conditions of Dr. Shreckengost's tenure in Bolivia are subject to change due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.