Mother's Day 2012

April 2012 - IVUmed Team To Senegal

Mary Frances James, MD

Eastern Virginia Medical School

Nairobi, Kenya – March 3 – 13, 2012

Mentor: Dr. Kurt McCammon

Sponsored by: The Mid Atlantic Section of the AUA

Through the generous sponsorship provided by the Mid Atlantic Section of the AUA, Dr. Mary Frances James traveled to Nairobi, Kenya with mentor Dr. Kurt McCammon.  Dr. James had the opportunity to experience grassroots surgery and its value in a developing nation.

 Reporting on her experience, Dr. James stated: 

“At the time of our arrival there was a nursing strike going on throughout the city including Nazareth Hospital.  This situation was very stressful for the sisters and added strain to the daily hospital management as the patient census continued to increase each day. …Despite this ongoing struggle within the hospital we were graciously welcomed by the FIHM sisters on our arrival.”

“The operating room staff was very hospitable and allowed us to use one of the two main operating rooms.”

“The first couple of days consisted of several second stage urethroplasties.... This was a wonderful experience as it was the first time I had seen this operation.”

“Overall my IVU trip was a wonderful experience. Traveling to Africa and working within the constraints of limited resources was an eye-opening and humbling experience.  In a field such as urology that has transformed with development of robotics and minimally invasive care I think it is important to remember how different healthcare is throughout the world.  I am extremely grateful for having had this opportunity and look forward to a lifelong commitment to urologic mission work."