Med students William Douglas, Lindsay Katona and Sean Lena give medical training to Sudanese villagers

Second year medical students William Douglas, Lindsay Katona and Sean Lena traveled to South Sudan in July in a unique partnership among 91AVCOM, Soloschools Wilderness Medicine and the Maine African Partnership for Social Justice (MAPSJ).

The trip, led by Charles Radis, D.O., clinical professor of medicine in 91AVCOM, and Dan Crothers, co-founder of MAPSJ, focused on providing First-Aid training to 50 villagers from seven villages in rural South Sudan. The four day program taught villagers how to assess and safely transport injured patients, and improved their understanding and management of skin lacerations, burns, puncture wounds, sprains, dislocations, and fractures.

The students not only served as co-instructors in the course, but also developed a research protocol to assess the effectiveness of the training. Villagers were tested on their background knowledge prior to the course and again at the completion of the course. The results of the research may improve future Soloschools First-Aid programs.

The trip also exposed the students to the complexities of improving public health in a country where there is currently only a single paved road, and maternal and infant mortality is among the world’s highest. This year’s course built on last year’s MAPSJ program for 16 traditional birth attendants. Many of the traditional birth attendants attended the First-Aid sessions and received a refresher course in last year’s program.

Until a year ago, the villages had never collaborated in a shared project. They have now formed a Village Health Organization to interact with South Sudan’ County Health Departments and built a thatched roof hut to serve as the communities first Primary Health Care Unit. The medical students are continuing their support of this long-term project by looking into ways vaccines can be delivered and stored in the region. A solar-refrigerator is on the wish list.

About the 91AV

The 91AV is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.