HVO Launches Hematology Program In Uganda In Partnership With ASH

Main Category: Blood / Hematology
Article Date: 31 Mar 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) and the American Society of Hematology (ASH) are pleased to announce the establishment of the first HVO hematology training program, at Mulago Hospital located in Kampala, Uganda. Mulago Hospital is a 1500-bed facility that serves as Uganda's national referral, teaching, and research hospital and is affiliated with Makerere University. The overall goal of this program is to improve the hematology training of clinicians, laboratory technicians, technologists, and students.

ASH member Melody Cunningham, MD, will serve as the program director for this site. "Hematology is not a well-developed discipline throughout the country," stated Dr. Cunningham. "The staff seeking further training in hematology are young, fresh, and genuinely want to advance their programs, both for improved clinical care and academic accomplishment, but also to create a sustainable program that can be passed down."

HVO will send up to four volunteers a year to fulfill two- to four-week assignments. Volunteers should be ASH members who are board certified/eligible in hematology or hematology/oncology and pediatric or adult hematologists in clinical practice or laboratory research.

Volunteers will provide didactic and hands-on training in both the clinical and laboratory aspects of hematology to undergraduate medical and laboratory students, postgraduates, fellows, and staff. Volunteers will also assist in evaluating postgraduate fellow projects and aid in improving communication between the lab staff and clinicians.

The American Society of Hematology is the world's largest professional society concerned with the treatment of blood disorders. Since its initial meeting in 1958, ASH has been dedicated to furthering the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting the blood, bone marrow, and the immunologic, hemostatic, and vascular systems, by promoting research, clinical care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology. ASH has more than 15,000 members, including more than 3,500 international members from across the globe.

A private, nonprofit membership organization, Health Volunteers Overseas was founded in 1986 to improve global health through education. HVO designs and implements clinical education programs in child health, primary care, trauma and rehabilitation, essential surgical care, oral health, hematology, infectious disease, nursing education, burn management, and wound care. In more than 25 resource-poor nations, volunteers train, mentor, and provide critical professional support to health care providers who care for the neediest populations in the most difficult of circumstances. HVO's hematology training programs are sponsored by the American Society of Hematology. To learn more about volunteering with HVO, visit the Web site (http://www.hvousa.org) or contact the HVO Program Department at (202) 296-0928.

American Society of Hematology

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