CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION TO ALPHA OMEGA ALPHA JANUARY 2008

  Nomination CV
FACULTY    
Lisa Armitige, M.D., Ph.D. (also alumna) nomination CV
Richard Bradley, M.D. nomination CV
Patricia Butler, M.D. nomination CV
Giuseppe Colasurdo, M.D. nomination

CV
Francisco Orejuela, M.D. nomination CV
     
RESIDENTS/FELLOWS    
Yvette Drake-McLin, M.D. nomination CV
Ruckshanda Majid, M.D. nominated by Amy Graham-Carlson, M.D. CV
Jean Onwuchekwa, M.D. nomination CV
Erica Ruger, M.D. nomination CV
James Suliburk, M.D. nomination CV
     
ALUMNI    
Lisa Armitige, M.D., Ph.D. (also faculty) nomination CV
Kimberly Kjome, M.D. nomination CV

STATEMENT ABOUT THIRD-YEAR ELECTION TO ALPHA OMEGA ALPHA

The following email went out to the MS 3 class on April 18, 2007.

 

TO:   MS 3's

 

FROM:    Eugene Boisaubin, M.D., Councillor, Alpha Omega Alpha, Delta of Texas Chapter

 

After a great deal of debate, and clarification with the national AOA office, we have decided to have the next AOA election in early September of this year. With the new evaluation/grading system, we simply do not have enough completed course grades during this spring to make fair selections, since some students would be advantaged and others disadvantaged by the variability of available grades. The fall election should allow newly elected students plenty of time to submit their award status to residencies to which they are applying. As the September election time approaches, you will all be notified about how the process will proceed.

        Sincerely,

        E. Boisaubin
        Councilor, AOA

 

 

The University of Texas Medical School at Houston                                                         

UT-Houston AOA Service Project: Adopting the clinic of Manyonga, Zambia

 

Our project is aimed to help support the people of Zambia as we adopt a clinic in Manyonga, Zambia (just south of Sinazongwe, Zambia near Lake Kariba). This is a country, and a community, with a huge health need demonstrated by multiple markers of health outcomes.  The average life span in the country is 40 years old and the mortality rate for children under 5 years old is 20% - with half of the cases due to the easily treatable/preventable causes of diarrhea (18%), pneumonia (22%), and malaria (20%).1  On average, only 16% of children under 5 years old in Zambia sleep under treated mosquito nets and about 84% of 1 year olds have received a measles vaccine.2  Current use of oral rehydration therapy as treatment for diarrhea occurs in about 40% of cases.3   Complicating these situations, 68% of Zambians live on less than $1 per day.1   Due to this overwhelming need and the inability of the population to respond to this need without assistance we have decided to raise funds and supplies for the community.  1500 people live in the village of Manyonga and 500 live in the nearby village of Siamajele, providing a reasonable population size to support.  Among these two villages 20% of the population are orphans, having lost one or both parents, and the average age in the village is 16 years old. 

 

Our goals for the project are as follows:

  1. To ensure that every child in the villages receive appropriate vaccinations. Measles vaccination is one of the WHO Millennium development goals and Pneumococcal vaccine has recently been shown to decrease child mortality by 16% in an African nation4 and to be cost effective as well.5  Vaccination costs are currently $41 per child through World Vision, an organization with infrastructure in place to receive and distribute the vaccines in Manyonga.  As we would be purchasing in bulk, discussions are underway to negotiate a decreased cost as there would likely be decreased shipping costs.  Current vaccination percentages for these specific villages have recently been estimated, so progress will be measured by the improvement in these numbers. 
  2. To ensure that every individual sleeps underneath an insecticide-treated mosquito net in the two villages.  These nets have been shown to reduce malaria transmission by about 90% for up to four years, and one net can be used by multiple family members.  While the current use in these villages is better than the national average of 6%, room for improvement remains.  Nets cost $20, which includes instruction on proper use.  Progress will be measured by the percentage of village members sleeping underneath a net on most nights. 
  3. To improve birth outcomes for children by providing multivitamins to all pregnant women in the villages.  Previous studies have suggested that multivitamin supplementation during pregnancy in HIV-positive African women can decrease fetal death, low birth weight, and preterm birth6 – although studies in HIV-negative individuals showed only a significant difference in low birth weight babies.7    As the prevalence of HIV in Zambia is 16.5%1, multivitamin supplementation is likely to provide a significant benefit to the newborns in these villages.  Additionally, the decreased incidence of maternal anemia as a result of iron supplementation would decrease these adverse outcomes further.8 Vitamins will be purchased at a discounted rate through either UNICEF or Blessings International (www.blessing.org) for about $4/person/pregnancy.  These will be available for pickup at the clinic and progress will be determined by the percentage of pregnancies in which a woman takes a daily multivitamin from the time of first prenatal appointment (or other presentation to the clinic), as well as by number of pregnancies treated compared to the expected rate of 41 births/year. 
  4. To ensure that each child <18 years old with a diarrheal illness receives oral rehydration therapy as needed.  As protected wells were dug in both villages recently rehydration salts will be added to well water to provide this intervention.3  These salts will be distributed through the clinic and progress will be followed by the percentage of children in the community that die of diarrheal illness, compared to a national average.  If this number is not available, then usage of the salts will be used as a measure of success.  Estimated cost is $6/child treated.  ($22.36/100 lyte solutions)
  5. To improve the overall health and quality of life of Zambians through miscellaneous means.  This goal includes the distribution of eyeglasses to children and adults that have been donated at the UT Eye Center.  The donated glasses will be powered and transported to the village where either an ophthalmologist or optometrist would distribute them when a group visits the villages in November, 2007.  If this will be an ongoing subproject in other locations an autorefractor may be purchased and investigations will be made into possible donation of an autorefractor for proper distribution of eyeglasses by less trained individuals.  In addition, if it is determined that appropriate use of medications could be ensured then antibiotics and antimalarials will be purchased through Blessings International for use in the villages, as well as any other medications that are donated for this project.  Finally, donations of medical equipment for the clinic will be transported as well.  Specifically, remaining gloves from first-year students taking anatomy lab will be collected for use and local hospitals and clinics will be contacted for donations of medical equipment.  Any remaining equipment that is unusable by Manyonga will be donated to Project Cure (http://www.projectcure.org/), an organization that distributes medical equipment internationally. 


Proposed Budget:

 

To raise money for this project we are going to sell lapel pins of the flag of Zambia for $5, a profit of $3.50 per pin, among the students, staff, and faculty of the university as well as the surrounding community.  Additional donations can be made tax deductible through World Vision, with 100% of the money going towards the health needs of Manyonga and Siamajele as described above.  We are also requesting funding from the National AOA office for this project. 

 

References:

1. World Health Organization (WHO) Statistics 2006. http://www.who.int/whosis/en/

2. UNICEF Zambia Statistics. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/zambia_statistics.html

3. Forsberg, BC et al. Diarrhoea case management in low-and middle-income countries-an unfinished agenda. Bulletin of the WHO. 85(1):42-48, 2007.

4. Cutts, FT et al. Efficacy of nine-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease in The Gambia: randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 365:1139-1146, 2005.

5. Sinha, A et al. Cost-effectiveness of pneumococcal conjugate vaccination in the prevention of child mortality: an international economic analysis. Lancet. 369: 389-396, 2007

6. Fawzi, WW et al. Randomised trial of effects of vitamin supplements on pregnancy outcomes and T cell counts in HIV-1-infected women in Tanzania. Lancet. 351:1477-1482, 1998. 

7. Fawzi, WW et al. Vitamins and Perinatal Outcomes among HIV-Negative Women in Tanzania. NEJM. 356(14): 1423-1431, 2007.

8. Watson-Jones, D et al. Adverse birth outcomes in United Republic of Tanzania —impact and prevention of maternal risk factors. Bulletin of the WHO. 85(1) 9-18, 2007.