Women & Infants Docs Bring Special Care to Rwandan Women

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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

GoLocalProv Health Team

Though the delicate and once-devastated country of Rwanda is half a world away, there is a global commonality we share—the desire for access to quality health care. Urogynecologist B. Star Hampton, MD, of Providence is committed to sharing that mission as she and specialists from the Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery at Women & Infants Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University brought their expertise to women in Africa as part of an annual International Outreach trip. Each year Dr. Hampton travels with a senior fellow, this year Blair B. Washington, MD, of Providence, on a surgical mission to provide care for women who are in need of advanced pelvic floor reconstruction or fistula repair.

A Team Effort

Drs. Hampton and Washington worked in Kigali, a growing city in the heart of Rwanda, where they served for two weeks at Kibagabaga Hospital with a team of American surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses. They collaborated with and trained local physicians, medical students, and nursing staff, teaching them post-surgical care for the women, as well as basic anatomy, surgical preparation, sterility concepts, evaluation, and surgical approaches.

Comfort in Action

“This mission is an annual reminder about how truly lucky we are to have access to some of the finest, most sophisticated health care in the world,” commented Dr. Hampton. “Our team was able to provide basic and advanced care to 73 women in Africa, women whose lives were definitely improved. We worked hard to tackle difficult surgical cases and to create meaningful results for the women of Rwanda.”