May 2024
Global Pediatrics Program Newsletter
Nadia Sam-Agudu, MD, CTropMed ®
Greetings all! We are approaching summer, and as we make our way into a new season, we are also ushering our graduating Global Peds residents into new/further career pathways and welcoming new residents into the program. This issue highlights resident activities, instructor updates, faculty activities and awards, and upcoming events.
Please check out the newsletter and join us for upcoming events.
NASA
Nadia A. Sam-Agudu, MD, CTropMed®
Director, Global Pediatrics Program.
Upcoming Events
Global Resident Acquiring Pediatrics Education Series (GRAPES)
Monday, May 13 | 5:15 - 7:15 p.m.
Topic: Supporting Health for Indigenous Children in Minnesota with Dr. Valerie Norris, Dr. Donovan Williams, and Dr. Michael Sundberg
Passport #: 40 - Native American Health
Location: Wilf 1 & 2
Global Pediatrics Block ED
Friday, May 31 | 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Topic: Refugees and Immigrant Health with Sheyanga Beecher and Jackelyn Santiago-Toledano from Hennepin Healthcare Mobile Health Clinic
Location: Wilf
Grand Rounds
Wednesday, June 5| 7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Topic: While They Were Away: Resident Global Child Health Projects
Cynthia Howard, MD, MPHTM, Michael Taylor, MD, MPH, CTropMed®, Jennifer Udeogu, MD, Alison Woods, MD, Megan Lucas, MD
Location: Wilf Auditorium
Welcome Picnic
Tuesday, July 9| 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Topic: Welcome interns & international visitors and introduce the Global Pediatrics Program and the Track.
Location: TBD
Graduation
Congratulations to our residents who are completing residency!
Ashwini Arumugam
Kyle Baumann
Jenni Hathaway
Stephen John
Erin Kim
Megan Lucas
Sehar Minhas
Jenni Robinson
Jennifer Udeogu
Alison Woods
Haley Zweber
Global Instructor Update
Cassidy Huun, MD, Tanzania
This is Cassidy, one of the Global Pediatrics Instructors, checking in for my last time as a Global Pediatrics Instructor. I have been in Arusha, Tanzania since January and will be heading back to the United States soon. The time has gone by so quickly and I am not quite ready to leave. Since my last newsletter check in, I have continued to work in the pediatric wards at Selian Lutheran Hospital and have been working on a few different projects. One of the main areas of focus for my projects has been on severe acute malnutrition.
Many of the patients admitted to Selian come in with bread and butter pediatric concerns, but there is also a significant portion of the pediatric patient population that is suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Selian has a very well trained pediatric staff to take care of these children and there is an outpatient program that follows the children who were discharged to ensure that they continue to grow and develop well. It has been amazing to see these children recover, grow, and meet new developmental milestones.
Many of our patients come from the nearby area, but some travel great distances to be seen at Selian. This is why an outreach malnutrition screening and following program has been started in the past month in Oldanyo Sambu, which is about 30-40 minute drive outside of Arusha. Mothers who have concerns about their children’s nutritional status, growth, or development can come to the outreach clinic and have their child screened for malnutrition and discuss any other concerns. If malnutrition is identified, they can receiving high calorie “plumpy nut” supplements or they can be referred to the hospital for admission if the malnutrition is severe. In addition, there is group education on healthy eating by Selian’s nutritionist, Nuru, that is given to the mothers and pregnant women been seen in the prenatal clinic. She speaks English, Swahili, and Masai so she is an amazing asset to the team!
My time here has been amazing and I will be sad to leave all of the wonderful people that I have met and worked with here. Thankfully, I have plans to return to Tanzania during my upcoming fellowship to continue building on some of the connections I have made.
Global Instructor Update
Mo Muttineni, DO
I cannot believe my second year as Global Peds Instructor Is coming to an end. I am so thankful for all the opportunities and global connections this position has brought me. It has led to incredible personal and professional growth, as well as some amazing friendships along the way.
This year, I spent about a month in Sodo Christian Hospital, Ethiopia working on a research project. The objective of this project was to test the efficacy of ThermoSpot on babies undergoing filtered sunlight phototherapy (FSPT). ThermoSpot is a commercially available continuous temperature monitoring device that has been designed for low- and mddle- income countries and can be most useful in neonates. The efficacy of this instrument has not been tested in infants undergoing FSPT, which is a practical and inexpensive method of phototherapy in countries where conventional phototherapy is not readily available or affordable. Here I assisted in training nurses on the device as well as obtaining data.
I stayed on the hospital campus, with medical students and residents from different parts of the country/different fields. While I was not working on the project itself, I would round in the NICU and pediatric wards with the pediatric and family medicine attendings. I would also go on various outreach programs with the other guests i.e. rheumatic heart disease screenings, mossy foot clinics, etc. I was surprised by the hospital’s robust EMR system as well as their adherence to protocols in the NICU. While there were many typical cases (feeder-growers in the NICU, r/o sepsis, gastroenteritis in the wards), I also saw some things that I had not encountered such as spina bifida, measles and measles associated pneumomediastinum, and leishmaniasis.
On the weekends, we went on different hikes, played pickleball (yes…there was a court on campus), checked out different restaurants, hung out on the hospital campus with new friends, and made lots of memories. Everyone was so hospitable and I learned so much from just being around them. I will be starting a new job in DC this year, and I cannot wait to take this knowledge and these connections forward.
Faculty Update
Mike Taylor, MD, MPH, CTropMed®
In April, Global Peds Program members have been active in the advocacy and academic conference spaces. Drs. Tolu Oshiba, Ronke Gbadebo, and Mike Taylor took it to the hill to advocate with the AAP for the safety for teens and children both online and through our ED/EMS systems.
Building on the progress of Drs. Wendy Sun and Celina Spencer from last year, we continued to push for regulations to protect the safety and wellbeing of all our children online via the prompt passage of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). We also pushed for the renewal of the Emergency Medicine Response for Children Act (EMSC) to ensure EMS staff across the country have the appropriate equipment and are well trained to care for the specialized needs of our children. While the members themselves were busy with several legislative sessions, we were able to meet with staffers from the offices of six Minnesota members of congress.
Also this month at APPD, Dr. Taylor and Ms. Danich presented on the GPEDS curriculum and bidirectional exchanges, as well as facilitated a GH focused workshop in close collaboration with members from the Midwest Consortium on Global Child Educators.
Both conferences have been a great experience for all!
Faculty Update
Investing in the Future of Community Health: The Minnesota Indigenous Health and Workforce Initiative
Michael A. Sundberg, MD, MPH
The University of Minnesota Medical School’s Center of American Indian and Minority Health and University of Minnesota Physicians collaborate with the Indian Health Service (IHS) and regional Indigenous communities under a program recently named the Minnesota Indigenous Health Workforce Initiative (MnIHWI). This collaborative aims to improve health disparities and increase health access by providing direct clinical care within the IHS, disseminating Indigenous health resources, and developing a future health workforce more representative of Indigenous communities.
Currently, MnIWHI maintains clinical- and education-focused relationships in Rosebud, SD and in White Earth, MN. This coming year, 16 pediatrics, medicine-pediatrics, and internal medicine faculty clinicians will continue to provide direct primary care, hospital care, and telehealth specialty care in the Indian Health Service facilities in both locations - many are faculty whom residents and medical students work with regularly on pediatric wards at Masonic, Children's Minnesota or in clinics in the Twin Cities.
MnIWHI invites interested pediatric residents and students to join our work! We have clinical rotation experiences available that focus heavily on understanding health systems for Indigenous communities, learning about cross-sectoral approaches to community health, and increasing knowledge about traditional medicine and cultural practices important to Indigenous community health.
Please reach out to the global pediatrics team if you are interested in a clinical learning experience. We'd love to have you!
Resident Spotlight
Jen Udeogu - PL3
I'm like a mix of fun, goofiness, and a pinch of quietness, sprinkled with laughter . Originally from Nigeria, but I've been all over the place. Kyiv stole my heart, and I miss it big time! When I'm not hanging out with my family/friends , you'll catch me binge-watching movies or jet-setting around the globe. Traveling is my jam! 🌍✈️
Favorite Quote: "Life's God’s story and I am excited to be part“
Favorite Travel Destination: For me, it's not just about the place; it's the people I journey with. Turkey was a spicy adventure!
What the World Needs More Of: Good food isn't just sustenance; it's a global hug we all crave!
If I weren't a physician, I would be: Movie director
Global Child Health Literature and Awards
Several of our faculty were recognized at the Julie Ross Faculty Recognition Event. Congratulations for all of your hard work!
Dr. Cindy Howard was awarded the Gold-Headed Cane Award on March 27, 2024 at grand rounds with a presentation by Dr. Chandy Howard "Changing the world one person at a time: a tribute to Cindy Howard, MD"
Dr. Tina Slusher Dr. Slusher was awarded the Pioneer Award from the Bilirubin Club at PAS 2024 in recognition of a distinguished career as a global leader of research on newborn jaundice and her efforts to prevent injury caused by bilirubin on Sunday, May 4, 2024.
Goren LR, Lehman AC, Luquette M, Howard C, Thielen BK. A Lytic Bone Lesion in a 23-month-old Boy from Kenya. Pediatr Rev. 2024 Apr 1;45(4):225-229. doi: 10.1542/pir.2021-005473. PMID: 38556514.
Faculty: Traveling for Global Peds Work? Let us know!
Please fill out the Global Pediatrics Program Faculty International Travel form. Note: This doesn't replace the need to register your travel with the University of Minnesota. You must still register at https://global.umn.edu/travel/register.
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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