March 2021
Global Pediatrics Program Newsletter
Risha Moskalewicz, MD
Director, Global Pediatrics Track
Well, it's March, and that should mark the beginning of a new season. It also marks the anniversary of many of the societal adjustments that we've gone through as a result of COVID. In more ways than one, I hope this new season continues to bring change for the better.
In recent months we have had some outstanding presentations by global health faculty and residents alike, which are linked below so that all may view them. This month we will also hold Global Health Block Education for the pediatric residents, with a focus on newborn health issues through a global lens.
Upcoming Events
Global Pediatrics Program Block Ed
Date & Time: Friday, March 12 — 1:00 p.m.—5:00 p.m.
Topic: Neonatal Health through a Global Lens
Location: Via Zoom
Virtual Lunch Session
Date & Time: Tuesday, March 16, 2021 — 12:00 p.m.—1:00 p.m.
Topic: Multifocal pain, fevers, and an enhancing clavicular lesion in an 11 year old Liberian male with Dr. Alice Lehman & Dr. Alex Boucher
Location: Via Zoom
Global Medicine Lecture Series
Date & Time: Wednesday, March 17, 2021 — 6:00 p.m.—7:30 p.m.
Location: Via Zoom
Topic: Dr. Rahel Nardos will discuss her work in global women's health
Date & Time: ***New Date*** Wednesday, March 31, 2021 — 12:00 p.m.—1:00 p.m.
Location: Via Zoom
Topic: Innovating Respiratory Equipment with Dr. Stephen John
Global Medicine Lecture Series
Date & Time: Wednesday, April 21, 2021 — 6:00 p.m.—7:30 p.m.
Location: Via Zoom
Topic: Pediatrics day - topic TBD
Virtual Lunch Session
Date & Time: Thursday, April 22, 2021 — 12:00 p.m.—1:00 p.m.
Topic: Climate Change and Child Health with Kristen Bastug
Date & Time: Friday, April 30, 2021 — 12:00 p.m.—1:00 p.m.
Location: Via Zoom
Topic: with Molly McCoy and Darlisha Williams
New Faculty Member!
Nick Sausen, M.D.
Dr. Sausen is an Emergency Medicine physician who joined the Department of Pediatrics in August 2020 as an assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. He is currently working in the pediatric emergency department at Masonic Children's and in the emergency department at Hennepin County Medical Center. He is a native Minnesotan and alumni of the University of Minnesota where he studied neuroscience and physiology as an undergraduate and completed medical school. He completed a combined emergency medicine and pediatrics residency at LSU New Orleans.
Dr. Sausen's interest in global health is developing acute care systems to reduce morbidity and mortality in LMICs from accidents and emergencies with particular interest in Sub-Saharan Africa.
His interest in African healthcare started during medical school when he traveled to Sierra Leone to help promote community-based health initiatives engaging local high school students in Freetown and Kenema as change agents in their neighborhoods to initiate student-driven outreach projects. He was awarded a Benjamin Kean Travel Fellowship by ASTMH which allowed him to spend a fifth year of medical school at Mulago Hospital in Kampala researching impacts of cerebral malaria on neurocognitive outcomes of Ugandan children. In New Orleans his pediatrics continuity clinic served a large cohort of Honduran families that migrated to the city to help rebuild following Hurricane Katrina. He has also presented research on racial disparities in pediatric trauma in Greater New Orleans at the American College of Emergency Physicians and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine annual meetings. He looks forward to learning alongside students and residents at UMMCH and HCMC, and hopes to further engage with global partners to promote a robust exchange of ideas and experiences.
Resident's Corner
Stephen John MD – Medicine-Pediatrics Resident
I am originally from South India and grew up in western Nepal, where my parents worked at the local hospital. We lived a warm, tight-knit community where everyone looked out for each other. I had the chance to witness firsthand the impact medicine can have in resource constrained settings, which has been foundational for my longterm goals.
I came to the US for my higher education and studied mechanical engineering at Western Michigan University and medicine at the University of Michigan. In discussing with clinical colleagues abroad, I came to learn that infant respiratory distress was a leading cause of under 5 mortality. Conventional ventilators were too expensive, complex and required continuous electrical power… leaving most of the world without access to life saving ventilation. I worked to develop NeoVent, a simple, easy to use, non-electric, non-invasive bubble ventilator. Our team was blessed to win several design awards which funded the development of the project. We were able to validate the technology in lung simulators, animals and humans. Presently we are working to bring the technology to market at scale. Some of my other similar projects include a smartphone compatible video laryngoscope and implementing a 3D printer in rural Nepal.
Long term I hope to continue working to design medical equipment for resource constrained settings. I am interested in general medicine pediatrics vs. cardiology.
Resident Spotlight
Rachel Hedstrom, MD - Pediatric Resident PL2
I grew up in Saint Paul, MN, and attended college at Saint Olaf College. There, I took Spanish classes and spent a month with a host family in Costa Rica improving my skills. I took 2 years off before medical school working as a clinical assistant and scribe at Twin Cities Orthopedics; a mental health worker; and a scribe for a family medicine practice. During this period, I took a week long trip to Honduras with Global Medical Brigades, bringing medical care to small rural mountain towns. I attended medical school at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA. There, I was part of the medical Spanish program, and worked locally in our Spanish speaking pediatric clinic. During my fourth year of medical school, I spent a month in Belize giving surveys in Spanish and English, trying to better understand infant safe sleep practices there. I would like to continue my global health experiences exploring Tanzania next year.
Favorite quote: "Treat others as you would like to be treated"
Favorite travel destination: Outer Banks, North Carolina
What the world needs more of: Grace, kindness, and understanding
If you weren't a physician you would be: a teacher
Catch up on Past Events
Global Pediatrics Grand Rounds - January 13, 2021 "The State of Maternal and Neonatal Survival through Global and Domestic Lenses" Jameel Winter, MD and Rahel Nardos, MD, MCR
View other past Global Pediatrics Grand Rounds
Global Health Research Series - January 29, 2021"A (fish)Tale on Two Continents , G6PD Biology" Troy Lund, MD, MPH After you've watched the presentation, please fill out our evaluation form.
View other past Global Health Research Series recordings.
Virtual Lunch Session - February 2, 2021 "Infant Mortality, Teen Moms and Black Lives" Elena Galindo, MD
Global Health Research Series - February 27, 2021 "Collaboration with International Partners - Successes and Challenges" Tina Slusher, MD
After you've watched the presentation, please fill out our evaluation.
Employment Opportunities in Global Health Education
Health Frontiers is seeking candidates for the position of Field Representative and Emergency Medicine Residency Program Coordinator in Vientiane, Laos.
Seed Global Health (Seed) is looking for Seed Educators
Funding Opportunity to Support Global Research
Internal funding opportunity to support research with global partners
Global Health Literature and Media Highlights
Immigration Detention A public health crisis in Minnesota - Madison E. Kahle; Calla Brown, MD, MHR; Charles N. Oberg, MD, MPH, FAAP; and Cynthia Howard, MD, MPHTM
Dr. Mary Owen On Importance Of Native Community Accepting COVID Vaccine
Multifocal Bone Pain, Fevers, and an Enhancing Clavicular Lesion in an 11-year-old Liberian Boy - John Scheuer, Alice Lehman, Cynthia Howard, Emily Greengard and Alexander A. Boucher
The Global Pediatrics Program faculty have written a lot this past year. Check out our publications.
Please donate if you can. We use these funds to bring trainees and faculty here from our partner sites. We bring the trainees here for a month during the summer to spend time rotating in our hospitals and clinics. We're grateful we've been able to bring faculty here to present.
Click on Welcome on the left hand side to get to the Pediatric Global Health Home page.