Dr. Angela Enright & Dr. Miodrag Milenovic
It’s April 6th, our 3rd day with boots on the ground at the Gamby Hospital here in Ethiopia.
With the largest surgical case handled on day one, four more significantly large cases yesterday, and a full slate for the surgeons again today, and many more in the days to come, we know what the surgeons and nurses are up to.
But what else is RESTOR’S team of experts doing while here? It’s my job to find out.
So I’m hot on the tail of Doctors Enright and Milenovic today, who are running a week long Pain Management Training Course.
Dr. Angela Enright, who is internationally recognized for her humanitarian efforts and contributions to the profession of anesthesiology, and Dr. Miodrag Milenovic a specialist in anesthesiology and resuscitation will be instructing this week long course for the local medical and nursing staff at the Gamby Teaching Hospital here in Bahir Dar.
The course was created, and is being sponsored by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), and the Australian Society of Anesthetist. It addresses a variety is issues around what pain is and how to manage it. Angela and Miodrag will teach the course using a simple acronym designed to help students
remember the program as it is taught – “R.A.T”.
RAT teaches students how to; Recognize, Assess, and Treat pain.
It will address questions of;
What pain is?
The Classifications, the Physiology and Pathology of Pain
Pain treatment options, including medications and alternatives
Issues of Supply
And the Barriers to pain management.
Today’s class hosted a full gamete of students including public nurses, pharmacists, a public medical lecturer, a general surgeon, a paediatrician, internists, a midwife and midwife instructor.
The aim over the next week will be to train 20 medical staff (including doctors and surgeons), 20 nurses and 40 public health practitioners.
-Dina Kotler
