To improve the quality of medical care in developing countries, ASH is partnering with Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving global health through education. Currently, HVO has more than 60 programs in 25 nations in partnership with other medical, dental, and nursing societies. ASH is the first partner that will support programs dedicated solely to hematology.

ASH is working with HVO to recruit and support hematologist volunteers who travel to countries in need of education and training for health-care providers on the treatment of patients with blood disorders. This unique program covers the management of a full range of blood disorders, from the many forms of anemia (including those associated with malaria, pregnancy, iron deficiency, thalassemia, and sickle cell disease), to disorders that lead to abnormal bleeding and clotting, to malignant disorders such as leukemia and lymphoma. Methods designed to enhance the purity of the blood supply in these counties is also being taught.

HVO training programs focus on local diseases and health conditions, and the procedures and skills taught are relevant, realistic, and sustainable, with the goal that the indigenous population will continue to benefit from the experience long after the volunteer has departed. In addition to teaching, volunteers may also shape curriculum design, influence national health policy, and promote realistic health interventions.

Volunteers Needed!

Cambodia

An updated Announcement is available on the Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Hematology KnowNET project. To view the Announcement, use the link below:

Uganda

Volunteers are currently being recruiting for the pilot hematology program at Mulago Hospital and Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. Volunteers will spend two weeks to one month teaching and training local health-care providers, giving them the knowledge and skills to make a difference in their own communities. Volunteers lecture, conduct ward rounds, and demonstrate various techniques in classrooms, clinics, and operating rooms. They may also be involved in training teachers, developing curricula, and mentoring students.

Eligible volunteers must be ASH members who are board-certified/eligible in hematology (volunteers with two years of training in a subspecialty fellowship and board-certified in internal medicine or pediatrics may be considered at the discretion of the program director), have some prior experience working in a remote environment and suitably flexible to adjust to the local situation, and clinicians must have a current medical license and register with the local medical council prior to the trip. The site needs volunteers in all areas of hematology, including both clinicians and laboratory scientists as well as adult and pediatric hematologists.

Through the program, the volunteer will be provided with a clean, safe place to live during their stay, though travel costs to and from the site would be borne by the volunteer. (This expense is tax deductible.) All volunteers will also receive detailed orientation materials from both HVO and the program director in advance of their departure.

To learn more, read about ASH's recent site visit to Uganda or about a volunteer's experience in Cambodia.

To apply to volunteer in Kampala, contact Jenny Kelley, HVO Volunteer Coordinator, at j.kelley@hvousa.org.

Questions

To learn more about the ASH-HVO program, please contact Clare Kelley, International Programs Specialist, at pckelley@hematology.org.