Resident Scholar Reflections

Dr. Jessica Casey, MD - Mahuva, India

Through the generous sponsorship provided by the Resident Scholar Alumni, Dr. Jessica Casey traveled to Mahuva, India with mentor Dr. Sakti Das to participate in a free urology camp organized by the local Indian organization Jeev Sewa Sansthan (“Service to the Living”). During the camp, over 130 patients received much-needed urological care.

Reporting on her experience, Dr. Casey stated:

“During my six days in Mahuva at Sadbhavna Trust Hospital, I operated like crazy – running back and forth between the 6 operating beds that filled 2 operating rooms. As I was finishing one case, a patient behind me was getting their spinal anesthesia injected and being prepped by assistants for me to operate on in a few minutes. During those short six days, I participated in 34 operations which ranged from delicate hypospadias work to minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy to a reconstructive extrophy repair; and this was only a fraction of the work being done while I was there.

“In Mahuva they did not have all of the fancy equipment we have in the states; there was no fancy LigaSure, no argon beam, no laser lithotripsy. They had a scalpel, cautery, suction, a light and a patient who needed surgery. If something is bleeding, quickly put an “artry” (i.e. hemostat) on it and move on. If the suction isn’t turned on, use one of your two laps to stop the bleeding and move on. If they don’t have the needle driver you want, make do with another.

“If I was struggling with a maneuver and blaming everything around me (the lighting, the instruments, the angle, etc), Dr. Das would calmly remind me to focus on my own skills and not blame my surroundings. Dr. Das’s influence made me reflect at my own actions. Often at Northwestern, surgeons complain about not having the right gloves, the right assistant, the best light, etc. in order to make excuses for their own skills. It’s best to just focus at the task at hand, not make excuses, and just get the work done.”

Jessica Casey, MD

Northwestern University

Mahuva, India – November 4-28, 2011

Mentor: Dr. Sakti Das

Sponsored by: The Resident Scholar Alumni

Resident Scholar Reflections

Dr. Emma Ester Bendaña traveled to Deschapelles, Haiti with mentor Dr. Robert Edelstein to collaborate with Haitian hosts in the provision of urological care to patients in need. Dr. Bendaña evaluated over 100 patients and participated in 14 cases during the workshop.

Dr. Bendaña’s service in Haiti was made possible by a generous grant from the Northeastern Section of the AUA.

About her experience, Dr. Bendaña stated:

“My trip to Haiti in November of 2011 opened my eyes to another world of urology. Even though I had some experience in traveling abroad to developed and developing nations – it was my first medical trip as a trained urologist. After four years of residency experience in Rochester, New York – I had the ability to analyze and problem solve urological issues and situations. I left as a new person and urologist. Haiti provided me with a setting to develop my skills further as a surgeon and challenge myself to solve problems.

“In Haiti, we had limited equipment and instrument accessories. It became a challenge to provide high level care with a limited set of instruments. As a result, my skills were pushed to their limits and enhanced. There was no room for indiscretion. Accurate histories were needed to appropriately plan for procedures based on our limited equipment and intra-operatively an accurate diagnosis was needed so that only the equipment that was needed was opened. Our goal was to use our limited one-time use instruments to their maximum without waste.

“It was an honor to work with the residents and other attendings in Haiti – and understand their own struggles and challenges as they do their best to provide outstanding care for their patients. In residency it is easy to get lost in the paperwork and mundane nature of the business. I needed an awakening and this trip gave me several opportunities to open my eyes.”

Emma Ester Bendaña, MD

University of Rochester

Deschapelles, Haiti – November 12-19, 2011

Mentor: Dr. Robert Edelstein

Follow our team in Kenya!

You can follow our team currently working in Kenya on Boston Children's Hospital Blog.

International Women's Day

Join IVUmed in Celebrating International Women's Day!

IVUmed is deeply committed to empowering individuals through education and service. That is the spirit of our Women's Program, which focuses on helping women recover from urological and gynecological trauma and diseases as they rebuild their lives.

Join us in celebrating International Women's Day by donating to support the Women's Program. Your tax-deductible contribution will help our partners in Mozambique, Nigeria, Haiti and elsewhere to reach more women in need of quality surgical care.

The United Nations' theme for International Women's Day 2011 is Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women. We put this theme into action by partnering with outstanding surgeons and nurses in expanding access to surgical care in poor countries worldwide.

Click Here to Donate

Watch a video featuring our woman's program in Nigeria here:

Women of Evangel

World AIDS Day

December 1st is World AIDS Day. IVUmed is committed to the battle.

This year, IVUmed collaborated with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the American Urological Association (AUA), and Jhpiego (a nonprofit affiliate of Johns Hopkins University) to fight HIV/AIDS in Swaziland. IVUmed is providing volunteers to support an initiative there to combat the virus through adult male circumcision. According to recent studies, male circumcision has been found to contribute significantly to the prevention of female to male transmission. During a recent three-week “Back to School” campaign in Swaziland, over 7,000 men were circumcised. According to modeling studies, this translates into almost 2,000 HIV infections prevented. Our new partnership has made a lasting impact in the country hardest hit by the HIV epidemic.

"I hope that my efforts with the circumcision project safely contribute to fight against the HIV epidemic ravaging the people of Swaziland. I sincerely thank the IVUmed organization for allowing me this unique and enriching opportunity."
-Dr. James Wysock, IVUmed volunteer

IVUmed Volunteer, Dr. Shaun Wason, with staff at a local men's clinic

Operating bays at a men's clinic in Swaziland

Young men waiting to be circumcised at a clinic in central Swaziland.

Mozambique - November 2010

IVUmed first began its collaboration with partners in Maputo, Mozambique in 2004. Formal workshops focusing on pediatric urology and women’s health began two years later in 2006. Training has continued since then with workshops covering pediatric, women’s, and general urology cases.

Our lead partner in Maputo, Dr. Igor Vaz, is a leader in reconstruction and fistula repair. His dedication and influence has been instrumental in advancing the level of training available not only for Mozambican medical personnel, but for urologists and surgeons throughout the region as well.

Twelve physicians from three different countries participated in this year’s workshop at the Hospital Central de Maputo. During the week-long training, 57 children and adults were served. As a rapidly improving hospital and city, the site is well situated to reach and teach surgeons from neighboring countries. The impact of previous trainings is readily evident in the sophistication and quality of the urology services provided as well as the progress of the local residents.

“It was amazing to see how much they have learned and improved in the 4 years since I’ve been back. I have been searching for Mozambique for most of my professional life. It is the ‘end of the world’ urologically speaking, with only 2 fully trained urologists to service a population of 20 million. It is an amazing place to visit as the need is so great.”

-Dr. Richard Santucci

“This was my first experience on a medical mission. I was honored to be part of the team and look forward to doing it again in the future.”

-Dr. Gregory McIntosh

“Simply put, this has been one of the greatest professional experiences I have ever had. I feel that all practitioners need to have this type of experience at least once in their lifetime.”

-Dr. Britt Zimmerman

Zambia 2010

IVUmed launched a new surgical training hub in Lusaka, Zambia this October. Dr. Francis Schneck led an IVUmed team to conduct an initial site visit and surgical workshop at University Teaching Hospital, the primary training and referral hospital in Zambia.

Lusaka represents the wonderful potential for regional training efforts in Southern Africa. Sharing borders with eight countries and already selected by the College of Surgeons of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) as a potential center of excellence, University Teaching Hospital has requested IVUmed’s services for some time. Thanks to our members, funders and volunteers, we are now able to help build the availability of quality urological care in the region.

Zambia’s young and growing population faces a number of challenges as the country develops. A major concern is the dearth of available pediatric urological care. IVUmed’s first work in Lusaka witnessed this need with a caseload of both common and complex surgical cases. During the assessment and workshop, the team was able to train ten physicians along with 25 nurses, as well as serve 15 children.

Dr. Mohamed Labib and his Zambian colleagues are partnering with IVUmed to make our shared vision a reality. Working with seven urologists and over a dozen nurses and technicians, the IVUmed team found a site with the potential to meet its population’s urological needs. With the support of our members, we will apply our proven education model to make this happen.



“The moment that stands out for me was when the father of one patient grabbed my hands and bowed in appreciation, saying over and over ‘thank you, thank you, thank you.’ He was so grateful. You see incredible appreciation on these trips, which reminds me why I came and why I love nursing.”
-Stacie Pearce, RN