BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Newsletter Date: March 2018
Secretary General Henry Campos Vice-Secretary General Elsie Kiguli-Malwadde Former Secretary General Jan De Maeseneer Executive Director Alberta Steans Parsons Regional Representatives Geraldine Beaujean (Europe) Godwin Aja (Africa) Khalifa Elmusharaf (Med. & Mid. East) Dimity Pond (Western Pacific) Kamayani Mahabal (Southeast Asia) David Marsh (North America) Paulo M. Carvalho Jr (Latin Am.) At-Large Members Francisco Lamus Bjorg Palsdottir Klaus von Pressentin Paul Woorley Education for Health Michael Glasser
New Editor in Chief of the Newsletter Greetings Network: TUFH Community, It is with great honor that I take on the role of Editor in Chief. I have been attending The Network: Towards Unity for Health (TUFH) conferences since 2012. It has shown me the potential within each person to teach and learn, all at the same time. And to change the world, one project at a time. The Network: TUFH provides a community where professionals from all around the world in different professions aim to improve health by sharing and collaborating. I hope to share many of your stories in this newsletter. The newsletter is only interesting thanks to all of you sharing your ideas, projects, stories, … So please share through newsletter@thenetworktufh.org. For those of you who do not know me, I am a Belgian midwife with a Masters in Health Promotion from the University of Ghent. I work as a midwife in a midwifery-led unit near Brussels in Belgium and for the secretariat of The Network: TUFH. The Annual Meeting in Limerick, Ireland, is well on its way! Registration is open! Thank you to all abstract submitters, abstract status mails will be send by April 30th. You might want to attend the pre-conference day and/or the post-conference program hosted by Maastricht University. Students are also invited to attend the two-day SNO Summer School. Your organization/institution can sponsor or be an exhibitor, which includes free registrations and accommodation. More information about the annual meeting is available at http://tufh2018.com. Sincerely, Aricia De Kempeneer ~ Editor in Chief
Aricia De Kempeneer
The Best is Yet to Come! Dear Network: TUFH members and community readers,
Student Network Org. Alejandro Avelino Bonilla Newsletter Editor in Chief Aricia De Kempeneer Interns Shaina Speights Aricia De Kempeneer Samridhi Mittal
Inside the Issue:
Keynote Speakers 2018 Moto Mother Care Project Interview Jan De Maeseneer Region Africa SNO section “Learning to be leaders” Message Board of Directors
I am honored to serve as interim Executive Director of an organization as distinguished as The Network: Towards Unity For Health (TUFH). For those who do not know me: for the past two and a half years I have worked as the Administrator and coordinated the administrative activities of the Secretariat of The Network: TUFH, was the Editor in Chief of the newsletter, and worked with the Director and local hosts in planning and managing the Annual Conferences globally. Change nothing and nothing changes; with that in mind, I believe that an international and interprofessional organization such as The Network: TUFH needs to evolve constantly. Even though we are undergoing a lot of changes, our mission stills remains. And I stand firmly behind this 'Network of Networks' which aims to foster equitable community-oriented health services through education, research, and policy. As we move forward, my main goals are to build a community of practice where members can connect by sharing their experiences and skills. I highly value the input of the members of The Network: TUFH, so please do reach out with suggestions, ideas, collaborations, problems, questions... to the secretariat@thenetworktufh.org. Thanks to an active board of directors for upholding the mission of the organization, we are well on our way to a successful foundation. Thank you for being part of our community and please do spread the word amongst your colleagues, students, partners, instititions, organizations...The bigger our Network, the more interesting your community will become! Sincerely, Alberta Steans Parsons ~ Interim Executive Director
Alberta Steans Parsons
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Community Update
Keynote Speakers at TUFH 2018
Register for TUFH 2018
By Aricia De Kempeneer Empowering Communities: Walter Flores. He is the Director of the Center for the Study of Equity and Governance in Health Systems (CEGSS), a Guatemalan civil society organization specializing in applied research, capacity building, and advocacy around issues affecting indigenous population health rights and other marginalized populations. His keynote presentation will be on “Empowering indigenous and marginalized communities to demand health accountability.” Read more about him and his presentation here. Engaging Educational Institutions: Julien Poitras. He is the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Université Laval, full professor in the Department of Family and Emergency Medicine and Vice Dean of Social Accountability from 2014 to 2017. His keynote presentation will be on “Engaging the faculty of medicine of Université Laval towards excellence in social accountability.” Read more about him and his presentation here.
Empowering Underrepresented Sectors in Society: Heidi van Rooyen. She is the Executive Director of the Human and Social Development Programme at the Human Sciences Research Council. Her keynote presentation will be on “Understanding and empowering sexual and gender minorities in LMIC health contexts.” Read more about her and her presentation here.
Intersectoral Opportunities and Challenge: David Sanders. He is an Emeritus Professor and founding Director of the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. His keynote presentation will be on “Attaining health equity requires intersectoral action: opportunities and challenges in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals.” Read more about him and his presentation here. REGISTRATION SPONSORSHIPS: The Network: TUFH is proud to offer six registration sponsorships to help defray expenses related to traveling to the conference. Find out what the criteria are and how it works on: http://tufh2018.com/registration/
Moto Mother Care Project - Dr. Bangal ~ Member of the Women and Health Task Force By Aricia De Kempeneer This project began with the logistic support of the Motorola Mobile Company and the technical support of alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology. It aims at taking maternal health services to the doorsteps in rural areas. Village level health workers will be trained in registration of pregnancies using the mobile phone app and performing routine blood and urine tests at home, BP measurement, fetal heart monitoring, and providing other essential maternal health services. They will be supported by medical officers and nurses at the primary health centers run by our university, Pravara Institue of Medical Sciences. Objectives of this project are to: 1- Register and investigate the pregnant mothers at their doorsteps using a mobile app and investigation kit comprising of BP apparatus, Fetal Doppler, and blood and urine examination test kits. 2- Identify and refer high-risk pregnancies to first or second referral units. 3- Encourage institutional deliveries. 4- Provide postnatal follow-up services. 5- Tracking of high-risk pregnancies using the Moto Mother Care Mobile App Moto Mother Care Project 1,000 pregnant women from 45 villages, under five primary health centers will be registered, investigated, and followed up throughout pregnancy, delivery, and postnatal period. I will be able to monitor progress of these1,000 pregnancies and their outcome from my office in a one-year period with the mobile app. The scope of the project will be expanded as per the observations of this pilot study.
Dr. Bangal will attend the The Network: TUFH annual conference in Limerick this year. #TUFH2018
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My Journey with and within The Network: TUFH – with Jan De Maeseneer By Aricia De Kempeneer Jan De Maeseneer is the immediate past Secretary General of The Network: TUFH. He has been a member of The Network: TUFH since 2001. We interviewed him to get a feeling of the journey he made with and within The Network: TUFH. “From my experience as a family physician in an interprofessional community health center with a patient population coming from 95 different countries, I was very much interested in strengthening interprofessional cooperation and developing Community Oriented Primary Care. Moreover, early exposure to the community in the framework of “Community Based Education and Service (COBES)” seem to me the way to make undergraduate curricula more relevant for the needs of society. Learning about Social Determinants of Health should motivate future health professionals to make a clear choice for equity in health in their professional careers. I was (and I am still) a strong believer in South-South cooperation, and in the creation of “learning communities” where everybody’s story and expertise is valued.” Jan De Maeseneer
Click here to read more. He wrote a book titled Family Medicine and Primary Care at the Crossroads of Societal Change. You can read more on his book and find the isbn number to order here.
Regional Highlights - Africa By Aricia De Kempeneer
Godwin Nwadibia Aja is the regional representative for Africa. He is a Professor of Public Health at Babcock University in Nigeria and the President of the Association for Public Health Teaching, Research and Service. Read more here.
Elsie Kiguli-Malwadde is the Vice-Secretary General of The Network: TUFH. She is also the Director of Health Workforce Education and Development at The African Centre for Global Health and Social Transformation (ACHEST). Read more here.
Each community update will feature a different region to get a feeling of what it’s like to live, study, and work there as a health professional.
Hester Julie is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of the Western Cape where she has been a faculty member since 1989. Read more here.
Ruth Anyango is the Student Network Organization (SNO) African regional representative. She is a final year medical student from Kenya. Read more here.
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Community Update
SNO Ireland Team Welcomes All Students at TUFH 2018 By Wakibi Samson
SNO is proud to present Summer School! It will be taking place August 15-16 at The University of Limerick in advance of TUFH 2018. The Summer School will be jam-packed with student workshops, debates and discussions, an interactive training session, and an inspirational plenary speaker geared toward taking your student interests to the next level in the future. You can't miss this opportunity to share ideas and network with like-minded students from around the world. Join us in exploring the topic of Community Empowerment: A Multi-sectoral Approach from the student perspective. Students from all disciplines are welcome to apply
The Student Network Organization interviewed Meghan Feeny who is the Manager of the Local Team of SNO and started the SNO Ireland team, who are working hard to welcome all students at TUFH 2018. “In the Irish tradition, a Céilí (pronounced kay-lee) is a community gathering where people exchange stories and tales, play traditional Irish folk music, and of course do lots of dancing. The Network: TUFH Annual Meeting brings together people from all corners of the world who are excited SNO Ireland team with Khalifa Elmusharaf to exchange stories, share ideas, and work together to create positive change just like the céilí. The positive energy and community spirit is sure to be reflected throughout the conference here in Ireland. And you may have an opportunity to learn some traditional dance moves along the way! Above all, Ireland has a beautiful scenery and many tourist attractions. I wouldn’t like anyone to miss this amazing experience.” “We are beyond excited to host people from all parts of the world for the next Network: TUFH conference. Ireland will be a spectacular meeting point for everyone to come together and share their ideas on community empowerment for health. Limerick is a beautiful city with lots of history, culture, and a welcoming community. We hope that everyone who attends the conference will get a true Irish experience through the cultural events throughout the week. We are especially looking forward to the Conference on the Move day, where we will showcase many of the local organizations who are making a difference in the community. On this day, participants will also have a chance to see the surrounding beautiful landscapes that Ireland has to offer!” Click here to read more.
Jonathan Dangana, Immediate Past President, Represented SNO at the World Healthcare Students’ Symposium in Rwanda By Wakibi Samson “WHSS stands for World Healthcare Students’ Symposium. The WHSS is one of the largest scientific gatherings of students and young professionals in the world. It’s a meeting that is solely organized by students of member organizations; currently these are the International Pharmaceutical Students Association (IPSA), International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA), International Veterinary Students Association (IVSA), International Dental Students Association (IDSA), and European Medical Students Association (EMSA). This scientific meeting happens biannually and only member organizations have a hosting right, that is, the hosting is rotational among the students’ organizations.”
at www.tufh2018.com.
For more, click here.
We hope to see you there!
Jonathan Dangana for SNO with members of IFMSA, EMSA, IDSA, IVSA
Join SNO for free as a student
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Learning to be Leaders - Amy Clithero & Cameron Crandall By Aricia De Kempeneer Teaching fourth year medical students to consider, engage, and lead their populations towards better health is an accepted abstract for TUFH 2018. It will be presented as a poster during the annual conference in Limerick, and was rated as an excellent abstract by the review committee. Regardless of future specialty, all United States residency programs require ability to work in a complex ever-changing healthcare system and leadership skills. These skills are critical components in teaching future physicians how to engage and partner with communities on health issues. For physicians to empower patients, they must first understand how the community is part of both the diagnosis and treatment and then apply leadership skills to avoid a hierarchical approach. At the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, fourth year medical students complete a mandatory four-week rotation with assignments that map to these first year residency competencies. There are three objectives to be attained. Firstly students must recognize their role within the healthcare system. They need to be aware of healthcare costs and value online courses and practical exercise. They must describe effective leadership styles using an online leadership course. Lastly students must demonstrate critical thinking skills. They are guided by the instructor to write a capstone paper on a topic of importance to the community. Paper requirements include an in-depth review of social determinants of the topic, identification of community resources, understanding of communication styles, consideration of community engagement approaches that reduce costs without affecting quality care, reflection on leadership competencies, community member interviews, and identification of empowerment strategies for social justice issues. The rotation is modified yearly based on student feedback, thus results are based on six months of data. Using a 5-point Likert Scale with 5=Strongly Agree: - Confidence in ability to perform as an intern improved: 4.2 - Overall quality of the rotation: 4.5
Amy Clithero
Qualitative feedback is positive on several different dimensions. To empower patients, physicians must understand how the costs resulting from physician decision-making impact patient choices, learn to communicate effectively with vulnerable populations and how to access and network with community resources. Through online learning, reflective and practical exercises, future physicians can learn leadership skills to empower patients.
“My project is at another level” - Amy Booth Limerick Fact:
By Wakibi Samson Amy Booth, a student at the University of Cape Town narrates how attending a Network: TUFH conference has impacted her career. She started the Health Aid for Refugees Project in collaboration with the Cape Town Refugee Centre to help refugees in South Africa. It’s now in its third year of running.
King John’s Castle is the westernmost Norman Amy Booth
“This conference and my interaction with The Network: TUFH and FAIMER was a pivotal moment in my career. Not only did it provide me with invaluable contacts, but it also gave me the rare opportunity to interact with like-minded people. People who weren’t complacent, but who also saw the need to make a difference in their community. This sort of interaction is inspiring and pushes one to better themselves and their involvement in projects. One of the integral lessons that I took away from the conference was to find a purpose, to not rush into projects just for the sake of it, but to plan carefully what one wants to achieve from it and what the intended purpose is behind it. Now, in my medical career, every time I want to start something, I think back to that conference and analyse what my purpose is.” For more, click here.
castle in Europe! The castle was built on the orders of King John in 1200.
Community Update
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Message from the Board of Directors
Preparations at Limerick University for #TUFH2018 Dr. Khalifa Elmusharaf, MBBS, PgCert, PgDip, FRSPH, PhD ~ Eastern Mediterranean Regional Representative
My story: From a student to the Chair of TUFH 2018 Conference Organizing Committee UPCOMIMG CONFERENCES
Beyond Flexner, 9-11 April, 2018 ~ Atlanta, GA, USA
American Educational
Research Association (AERA) 2018 Annual Meeting, 13-17 April, 2018 ~ New York, USA
Global Health & Innovation Conference 2018, 14-15 April, 2018 ~ New Haven, USA
2018 International Social
and Behavior Change Communication Summit, 16 -20 April, 2018 ~ Bali, Indonesia
Wonca: 15th World Rural Health Conference, 26-29 April, 2018 ~ New Delhi, India
The International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, 2-4 May, 2018 ~ Amsterdam, Netherlands
18th International
Conference on Integrated Care, 23-25 May, 2018 ~ Utrecht, Netherlands
I have got a lot of memories from more than 15 annual conferences of The Network: TUFH that I have attended. But upon these memories I recall when I first heard about the "Network of CommunityOriented Educational Institutions for Health Sciences" before its name changed to The Network: Towards Unity for Health. I was a student attending a leadership development program organized by the Student Network Organization (SNO) of Gezira University in Sudan. A few weeks later, I was attending my first Network conference in Bahrain in 2000. I was amazed by the unique nature of this conference, the dynamic interaction between students and other participants, the amazing networking opportunities, and the energy emerging from participants. Eighteen years later, I am chairing the conference organizing committee for 2018. It is a great honor for me to grow within such a great organization that is committed to improving the health of the people and their communities. Over the last two decades I have witnessed the remarkable growth in activities, vision, and credibility of The Network. This would not be possible without strong leadership, dedicated and loyal members who bring different perspectives, success stories, and cultural diversity.
Khalifa Elmusharaf & Anca Minescu (co-chair)
I am excited and enthusiastic about the #TUFH2018 conference which will take place from 16 to 20 of August 2018 on the magnificent campus of the University of Limerick, in the lovely city of Limerick, the Riverside City, the capital of the Mid-West Region, and the third largest city in Ireland. I am very lucky to have a great team full of energy working with me here at the University of Limerick, an experienced secretariat office in Philadelphia, and outstanding advisors, collaborators, and partners from all over the world. It has been almost a year now since we started our journey to prepare for the 2018 Network conference. The team here prepared an amazing program for you. You will enjoy the outstanding cultural and social programming, the fantastic traditional Network Dinner and Dance, and the remarkable full day conference on the move which will give you the opportunity to discover the Shannon Region and to immerse yourself in the unique experiences. There are big things happening in Limerick this coming August as we welcome people from around the globe to discuss Community Empowerment for Health: A Multi-Sectoral Approach. I am very confident that the conference here in Limerick will overwhelm your feeling of goodness and inspiration. We cannot wait to see you and are looking forward to welcoming you to this beautiful city!
WONCA Europe region conference 2018, 24-27 May, 2018 ~ Krakow, Poland
International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) Annual Meeting, 9 -12 June, 2018 ~ Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1st International Perinatal
TOTAL Health Congress, 27 - 30 June, 2018 Sinaia, Romania
Suggestions on conferences and events that might interest our members? Feel free to share them by contacting us at newsletter@thenetworktufh.org
University of Limerick Concert Hall
Call For Stories! Any ideas for stories/features for our newsletter? Feel free to share them by contacting us at newsletter@thenetworktufh.org. It could be featured in our next edition!
University of Limerick Accommodation