What is AMPATH? Why Eldoret?

Hello friends! For those of you who don't know, I am headed to Western Kenya for two months (in January and February 2020) to learn a little bit about global medicine. I will be rotating through the Moi University Teaching Hospital in OB/GYN for the full two months. Here is the official website if you have any questions: https://www.ampathkenya.org/. Here's also a quick video if that's more your style!

AMPATH stands for "Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare" and it is the most sustainable and successful healthcare system in Kenya. It services more than 3.5 million people throughout rural Western Kenya. The program was originally founded as a partnership between Moi University Medical College and Indiana University School of Medicine.

So we've dropped some facts. But why am I choosing to spend my time here? The first thing we have to discuss, is this is not medical mission work where students spend 2 weeks to drop off medication and leave. This is a fully functional academic hospital, community-health partnership which like in the US, I will be the least experienced person in almost every room.

Also like the US, parts of Western Africa are severely deprived of health care access and health resources. That is a huge reason why I chose to leave the comfort of my basement room (shout out Jordan Diagostino) to study in Kenya. Global health, in part, teaches us how to optimize resources. It teaches you how to think on your feet. It challenges the things you have learned, the practice you find comfort in. It makes you a better and more thoughtful provider.

Of course, another reason to do global health is to expose yourself to different people with different ideals, different cultures, different beliefs than yourself. This helps with cultural competency, one thing medicine often lacks.

If you had made it this far, congrats! I can talk a lot. I look forward to sharing my adventures with you these next two months!

-Bex