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Minsk,
Belarus
In the Republic of Belarus there is a network of public medical institutions
that provides free medical services. The government, however, cannot
ensure sufficient funding for the public health system, therefore
access to these "free" services is quite limited. The JHI
program in Minsk began in December 2000. JHI provides pedagogical-methodological
assistance to the Medical Academy of Post-Graduate Training through
lectures and seminars. These lectures serve as advanced training to
practicing physicians as mandated by the Belarussian government (similar
to Continuing Medical Education credits in the US) In addition, JHI
provides medical literature and donations of medical equipment, instruments
and disposable materials. In exchange for the educational programs
which provide continuing education credit to the lecture attendees,
many of the participating doctors and institutions agree to provide
priority access to medical services to patients referred by "Hesed
Rahamin" (Jewish Social Welfare Society).
Educational
Seminars:
The Medical Academy of Post-Graduate Training provides advanced
training to practicing physicians in their specialty. These physicians
are associated with the respective wards in publicly-owned city
hospitals. Current JHI collaborations are with Ninth City Hospital,
First City Hospital, and the Regional Hospital. Lectures are give
at the sponsoring state hospital to physicians, department heads,
Academy professors and other medical staff in the specialty and
they should be at an advanced level. JHI mission participants lecture
for four days, giving two 90-minute lectures each day. After each
lecture there is time for a question & answer session. All lectures
are translated by local translators, and therefore, each 90-minute
lecture involves about 45-60 minutes worth of material presentation,
and 30-45 minutes of translation time. Lecture topics are proposed
both by the Academy and by the mission participants themselves,
and the final lecture schedule is coordinated by the JHI Coordinator
in Minsk. Slide projectors, overhead projectors and PowerPoint projectors
are available, and mission participants communicate equipment needs
directly with the local JHI Coordinator. Mission participants are
also asked to prepare an abstract for each lecture. The abstract
should be a detailed one-page summary of the content of each lecture,
including key-points and key terms used. This should be similar
to an abstract that you would write about a journal article, book
chapter or lecture. The abstract needs to be submitted at least
a month before the mission, so that local doctors can sign up to
attend the lecture and arrange their schedules. Translators need
the full text of your lecture two to three weeks before the mission
in order to review the materials and prepare all necessary vocabulary.
Handouts, PowerPoint slides and other written materials may be translated
before the mission and copied for distribution. Many internet resources
are available to aid in lecture preparation. MD Consult is a website
that allows you to access medical texts online and search these
texts to find fast answers to all your questions. You can subscribe,
for a fee at http://home.mdconsult.com Or, register at the www.merckmedicus.com
site, and you can link to MD Consult for free.
Patient
Care:
As part of their long-term plan, Minsk has requested from JHI, the
following medical specialties: Cardiology, Neurology, Oncology and
Urology. In January 2003, an Ophthalmology track will be added.
During hospital rounds at local institutions, JHI mission participants
provide second opinion consultation for diagnostically complicated
cases. "Second opinion consultations" also take place
during home visits to bed-ridden patients.
Drug
and equipment donations:
As part of the comprehensive plan for each medical specialty, the
Academy chairs provide a list of requested drugs and medical equipment.
JHI seeks the donation of these requested goods from individual
donors (including mission participants) as well as large pharmaceutical
companies. Some of the materials are shipped directly to the country,
and some medications are hand-carried by mission participants.
Jewish
Renewal:
Finally, it is a goal of JHI missions to show participants a wide
picture of Jewish renewal in Minsk. Mission participants will get
to know Minsk's Jewish organizations as well as the volunteers that
work for them. They will visit the Hessed-Rahamim Foundation, the
JCC, warm houses and Jewish schools. Mission participants will celebrate
Shabbat with Hesed Foundation workers, tour notable Jewish sites
in the city, and visit the theater.
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