AMPATH Mexico

Submitted by: Beth Felker

ADMINISTRATIVE:

• April 23-27: Program Manager visited Puebla to meet with BUAP and FCP to continue to enhance financial and communication processes, visit the rural communites fo the first time and obtain video footage / promotora videos, attend and support a MAPAS Education project implementation planning meeting, and meet with Becca dn Mlaory to enahcne on-the-ground support systems.
• These nursing school stories have been published recently:
  • https://nursing.utexas.edu/news/relaunch-study-abroad-programs
  • https://nursing.utexas.edu/news/school-nursing-graduates-present-internationally
  • https://nursing.utexas.edu/news/ut-austin-school-nursing-hosts-exchange-students-kenya
  • https://thedailytexan.com/2023/09/18/ut-students-work-with-moi-university-hospital-to-improve-wound-care-in-kenya/

EDUCATION:

• Monthly seminars:

  • Coordinating with Victor Blanco to provide Constancia/credit for BUAP participants.
  •  Will coordinate with Victor Blanco to schedule next academic year’s dates, topics, and presenters.

• Global Virtual Exchange Elective in Migrant Health:

  • April 25: Last joint class. Student groups wrote four relatively strong op-eds. Marta Elba and Becca will try to help the strongest/interested groups get published.

• Pediatric Resident Spanish Language program:

  • Six peds pesidents have been selected and scheduled to be in Puebla for the next academic year.

RESEARCH:

• May 19-24 Director of Research and Education will travel to Mexico to meet with the Mexico INSP (National Institute for Public Heath) and BUAP to continue to cultivate relationships and further explore collaborative opportunities.

• SOPs:

  • We continue to complete the relevant SOPs.

• Working Groups:

  • Our team continues to support the eight Working Groups to meet and plan their community projects.

CARE:

• Overall successful visit for UVA Emergency Medicine Global Health Team. They taught in the paramedic program, helped with community first aid workshops, and attended some faculty meetings and a visit to Children’s Hospital. Tim Ruttan and Becca will follow-up with them on next steps.
• Visited Hospital para el Niño Poblano (Main Referral Children’s Hospital) with Tim Ruttan, UVA peds EM physician, and Dra Lis. They seem to have an interest in collaboration and possibility of resident/faculty exchange but probably will need an MOU at the central SSEP level (not students since they don’t accept students, even Mexican med students).
• End of April: provided three first aid workshops in communities and trained 34 individuals (promotoras, school teachers, and a few parents).
• Two rising third year Dell Med students want to do their Social Entrepreneurship project related to Puebla/AMPATH/MAPAS México, in addition to longitudinal Spanish immersion classes at language institute.
• Supporting AMPATH/MAPAS México pasantes with academic products from their social service year. Pasantes will present a poster in the trainee research forum at BUAP FacMed in May and submitted an abstract to a Environmental & Public Health conference held in Puebla in early June (https://enviroepihealth.com/).