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Cindy Howard, MD, MPHTM
Cindy Howard, MD, MPHTM
Director, Global Pediatrics Program
As I write this greeting, four of our residents are beginning one to five months of living and working in East Africa. They will meet colleagues, who will quickly become friends. They will learn about new health systems, diseases they have never seen before, and marvel at the beauty of East Africa and East African children. This spring and summer we will host residents from our partners in Uganda, Tanzania and Haiti. Let us know if you would like to host them in your home for a meal, meet them for a cup of coffee or take them on a tour of the Twin Cities. One of my favorite things about global pediatrics is being friends with colleagues from all over the world!
Happy and Healthy 2023!
Cindy
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
Global Block Ed
Friday, January 20 | 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Topic: GHEARD
Global Pediatrics Track Night
Tuesday, February 21 | 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. CT
Topic: Global Peds Careers: An Evening With Our Track Grads
Register for the Zoom meeting
Dr. Stephen Swanson (UMN, full-time in Tanzania) lecturing on feeding protocols for preterm babies, adapted for an African context
Dr. Kendra Martinez (’21-’22 Global Chief) celebrating her birthday while at the conference, with conference attendees
Dr. Kari Roberts (UMN) presenting on Surfactant Administration through Laryngeal Supraglottic Airway (SALSA) at the Arusha Neonatology Conference
Dr. Fathia Nour (Family Medicine Faculty, Borama, Somaliland), Naima Hassan (NICU RN, Borama Regional Hospital), Dr. Ellen Diego (UMN), and Dr. Hawa Dahir (Family Medicine Faculty, Borama, Somaliland)
An update from Tanzania
An update from Tanzania
"Tiny Feet, Big Steps-- Advancing Care of Critically Ill and Premature Babies in Tanzania"
"Tiny Feet, Big Steps-- Advancing Care of Critically Ill and Premature Babies in Tanzania"
We hosted the largest clinical Neonatology conference ever held in East Africa, entitled, "Tiny Feet, Big Steps-- Advancing Care of Critically Ill and Premature Babies in East Africa", October 23-28, 2022.
What fun it was to have over 35 doctors, nurses, and a physiotherapist arrived to teach at the conference from across Tanzania, USA, Canada, U.K., Botswana, Dominican Republic, and Germany. Even more was the excitement of the 195 conference attendees (doctors and nurses) representing 64 hospitals from 9 African countries (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Somaliland and Nigeria).
The conference lasted 5 days, with 70+ different lectures and skills workshops for African doctors and nurses. Among the doctors and NICU nurses/NNPs who flew to Arusha to help teach were two UMN Neonatologists (Ellen Diego, Kari Roberts), a Masonic NNP (Rachel Hovland) and Masonic NICU Nurse (Erin Keane). Over $60,000 raised to help fund this conference, and a large teaching copy of the NICU Book (Every Breath Counts: Manual of Neonatal Care & Drug Doses) was given to every hospital in attendance.
Watch videos about the work being done on the new YouTube Channel (Neonatology Africa).
Dr. Steve Swanson was a guest on the Healthy Mom Healthy Baby Tennessee Podcast, telling the journey of NICU work in Tanzania and how their team works to change the narrative that “small and really sick babies don’t survive in Africa”.
From Dr. Ellen Diego
In October 2022, the University of Minnesota (UMN) and Amoud University (AU) sponsored three members of the Borama Regional Hospital Family Medicine Department to attend the Tiny Feet, Big Steps Neonatology Conference in Tanzania. This week-long seminar served as an opportunity for Somaliland health care workers to form relationships and collaborate with surrounding African countries in improving the care of small and sick newborns.
The conference was also attended by members of the University of Minnesota Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine (NPM), who served as conference lecturers and skills- based session facilitators. This included two Neonatologists (Dr. Kari Roberts and Dr. Ellen Diego) and one Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) Rachel Hovland.
Two short video's on the conference and value of neonatology training.
Global Child Health Literature and Faculty Awards
Global Child Health Literature and Faculty Awards
Swanson SJ, Martinez KK, Shaikh HA, Philipo GM, Martinez J, Mushi EJ. Every breath counts: Lessons learned in developing a training NICU in Northern Tanzania. Front Pediatr. 2022 Aug 25;10:958628. doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.958628. PMID: 36090561; PMCID: PMC9452716.
Fajolu IB, Satrom KM, Ezenwa BN, Kein AC, Slusher TM, Ezeaka VC. Current Trends in Neonatal Morbidity and Mortality: Experiences from a Tertiary Center in Lagos, Nigeria. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2022 Jul 25;107(3):617–23. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0009. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35895339; PMCID: PMC9490664.
Alao MA, Olasinde YT, Gbadero DA, Tongo OO, Adeleke OT, Slusher TM. Aetiology of neonatal jaundice in apparently well late-preterm and term neonates at a mission hospital, Southwestern Nigeria. Nigeria J Paediatr 2022;49 (1):27-32.
Wu AG+, Luch S, Floersch JR, Keester A, Slusher TM, Fischer GA, Hale JE, Bjorklund AR. A Low-Resource Oxygen Blender Prototype for Use in Modified Bubble CPAP Circuits: Results from Design Feasibility Workshops. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2022 Jul 25;107(3):724–7. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0091. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35895338; PMCID: PMC9490642.
Barclay E*, Ojo I*+, Hake A, Oyenuga A, Satrom K, Lund T, Oyenuga M, Slusher T, Gbadero D. Neonatal Jaundice: Knowledge and Practices of Healthcare Providers and Trainees in Southwest Nigeria. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2022 Jun 27;107(2):328–35. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.21-0588. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35895425; PMCID: PMC9393447.
*Co-first author, +Past faculty, fellows and chief residents
Picture of Dr. Sehar Minas and her family at her sister's recent wedding
Resident Spotlight
Resident Spotlight
Sehar Minhas, MMBS - PL2
I was born and raised in Pakistan and moved to the US when I got married to my husband who is from Minnesota. It took me a little longer to match into residency compared to other people. I got an MHA from UMN and worked as a clinical research intern and clinical research assistant/coordinator at a couple different companies/programs during this time. The gap also gave me a chance to grow my family.
I got interested in the global pediatrics track because of the tropical and travel medicine course that is offered at UMN and the global pediatrics track residents have access to and am looking forward to taking the in person CTropMed course this year.
Favorite travel destination: Chicago, IL for all the yummy food at Devon Street and Miami, FL for the sunshine and beaches.
What the world needs more of: Tolerance and kindness
If you weren't a physician you would be: I was a clinical research coordinator for almost a year before starting residency. So probably that. Or working in hospital administration somewhere.
Global Fellowship Announcement
Global Fellowship Announcement
Stanford Global Health Media Fellowship – Applications Open
The Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health invites medical students to apply for the Global Health Media Fellowship. This fellowship helps physicians-in-training develop their expertise fighting medical misinformation and promoting global health equity. Fellows will receive a year of robust journalistic training. Beginning with a quarter at Stanford’s journalism’s program, and then with Dr. Sanjay Gupta at CNN, they will hone their skills to tell global health stories. They will finish their year with a 2-3-month overseas capstone project, bringing to light an untold global health story. Applications are due Jan. 31, 2023. Learn more and apply.
Global Pediatrics Track Passport - Don't forget to Log-It!
Global Pediatrics Track Passport - Don't forget to Log-It!
You need to complete 75% of the passport to graduate on the Track. Make sure to log into Canvas.umn.edu to document your progress.
Please consider a tax-deductible donation, if possible. We use these funds to bring trainees and faculty here from our international partner sites. The trainees do four to six week electives during the summer in our hospitals and clinics. We are grateful that we have been able to bring faculty here as well to present their research and collaborate with colleagues here in Minneapolis.
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Click on Welcome on the left hand side to get to the Global Pediatrics Track home page.
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