We believe that delivering health care in a developing country is a wonderful supplement to the training residents receive at Providence Portland. The benefits include:
- A comfort with relying on physical exam and clinical judgment, rather than diagnostic technology
- A better understanding of cultural diversity and the impact of immigration and alienation on health
- Developing a sense of how much health care can be delivered in a place of scarcity. This then translates into an intense desire to make health care in our country more efficient and effective.
- Personal transformation of seeing oneself as part of an international community.
For more than a decade, Providence Portland Medical Center has partnered with Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. Teams of faculty, residents and students from Providence Portland travel to Kenya and work side-by-side with their Kenyan counterparts. Exchange occurs, as Kenyan medical students join us at Providence Portland Medical Center each fall.
The goal of this program is to foster cross-cultural understanding and to nurture the altruistic spirit of physicians on both sides of the Atlantic. This program is supported by the Providence Health & Services corporate office and its International Health Program.
While we have a strong program in Kenya, residents have done international rotations in many other locations. Working in a venue that has a strong educational component is required to do an away rotation. (Our strong commitment to continuity of care with our own practice requires us to limit away rotations to one month.)
Our residents also frequently use vacation time to volunteer in mission-focused health care. Honduras, Thailand and Haiti all have benefited from the voluntary labors of our residents.
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