Global Collaboration in Ethiopia

About the Effort

In collaboration with one rural hospital in Gimbie, Ethiopia, OHSU health care providers provide medical training and service in key areas of women’s health.

Fundraising efforts are underway to support the program.

Lack of trained health providers in rural Ethiopia contributes to alarmingly high maternal mortality and morbidity from preventable causes such as postpartum hemorrhage, infection, hypertensive diseases of pregnancy and obstructed labor. Consequences of prolonged obstructed labor such as obstetric fistula have devastating physical and social consequences to a woman. Multiple vaginal deliveries and prolonged labor in the setting of a life time of physical exertion has also created a silent epidemic of uterovaginal prolapse among rural Ethiopian women severely limiting their daily activities and basic bodily functions.

In collaborating with Gimbie Adventist Hospital (GAH), OHSU is working to create a sustainable solution by providing training to Ethiopian rural health providers in the areas of safe pregnancy and delivery, management of obstetric emergencies, family planning, pelvic floor reconstructive surgeries, outreach work and community education.

A multidisciplinary approach through various departments/schools at OHSU including obstetrics and gynecology, family practice, school of nursing, public health and anesthesiology will also create a unique learning and transformational experience for OHSU providers and trainees in the area of global women's health. This provides opportunity for acquiring invaluable surgical and clinical skills by our students, residents and providers. This translates into much better care not only for women in Ethiopia but also for women in our own communities.

A team of rotating senior physician trainees as well as experienced faculty and staff travel to this hospital twice a year to provide surgical care and training for pelvic floor disorders. Further more, providers in midwifery and family planning engage with Gimbie Adventist Hospital and its newly developed midwifery program to support quality training of midlevel providers. With the support of OHSU Global Health Center, OHSU medical students are also engaged in community outreach research in collaboration with local nursing and midwifery students.

Surgical Team

Our team travels twice a year (November and April) to Gimbie to perform pelvic floor surgeries. We are looking for healthcare providers and interested in joining our team.

Read to see if you would qualify