Learn more about our global health work, including clinical service, research, and education collaborations.
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China: Laryngeal Physiology Lab partnership with Fudan University
The Jiang Laryngeal Physiology Laboratory shares strong bonds with the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai. Dr. Jiang is a graduate of Fudan’s medical school and holds an adjunct professorship position in the medical school. Students and doctors from the University of Wisconsin and Fudan collaborate on the lab’s projects. Student employees in Dr. Jiang’s lab have the opportunity to travel to Shanghai and work with doctors at the EENT Hospital.
Ethiopia: Long-standing partnership with Addis Ababa University
For over 10 years, our Department has had a collaborative relationship with Addis Ababa University School of Medicine and Public Health. We have facilitated the introduction of laparoscopic surgery, supported the development of residency training programs in Emergency Medicine and Family Medicine. As part of this partnership, over 100 UW faculty, staff, and students have traveled to Ethiopia.
Ethiopia program highlights:
- Establishing a variety of medical programs, including:
- Emergency Training Center
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Medical Education Partnership Initiative
- Quality Improvement
- Adult Emergency Medicine
- Student education programs, including undergraduate field and research experiences
- Helping run community health programs
For more information
Dr. Girma Tefera
Professor, Vice Chair Global Surgery
tefera@surgery.wisc.edu
(608) 265-4420
Molly Vaux, MPH
Global Health Outreach Specialist
vaux@surgery.wisc.edu
(608) 263-1371
Nicaragua and Ecuador: Division of Plastic Surgery partnership
For the last 28 years, our Department has partnered in an international exchange with Nicaragua. This program is the longest standing within our Department. This twice a year international exchange focuses primarily on education cooperation, using longitudinal methods, following their same patients in Nicaragua. In the early 90s, a local surgeon, name Gustavo Pertasio expressed interest in the partnership for plastic surgery training. For the last 28 years, Gustavo has selected one resident every 3 years to be involved in this global health partnership. The UW sends several residents to Nicaragua for a 10-day rotation, where the residents and faculty in Nicaragua and UW has a mutual exchange of education, health systems, and surgical practices. This 10-day international elective is built into each resident’s curriculum.
Once every three years, a Nicaraguan resident is invited to Madison to shadow residents, learn about our health system and culture, and participate in a microsurgery course and workshops. Members of the Division of Plastic Surgery also sponsor live weekly online plastic surgery grand rounds, a lecture series about their work in Nicaragua and Ecuador.
For more information
Dr. Samuel Poore
poore@surgery.wisc.edu
(608)265-2535
Dr. Delora Mount
mount@surgery.wisc.edu
Dr. Michael Bentz
bentz@surgery.wisc.edu
(608)263-1367
Thailand: Division of Plastic Surgery partnership
Since 2013, the Division of Plastic Surgery has partnered with institutions in Thailand for faculty and resident exchanges. UW residents gain experience with alternative health care systems and a life-long interest in international and local community service in under-served populations with plastic surgery needs. The UW hosts a Thai resident every other year for a 3-month rotation.
Past collaborations have also included work in Myanmar.
For more information
Dr. Samuel Poore
poore@surgery.wisc.edu
(608)265-2535
Dr. Delora Mount
mount@surgery.wisc.edu
Dr. Michael Bentz
bentz@surgery.wisc.edu
(608)263-1367
Kenya: Service and education trips with Endocrine Surgery team
As part of her research, Dr. Kristen Long works to build surgical capacity in rural Western Kenya, partnering with the non-profit organization KenyaRelief.org. Functioning as a high-volume ambulatory surgery center, the Brase Clinic in Migori County provides quality care to many Kenyans. Rural Kenya represents an endemic goiter zone, and as a thyroid surgery specialist, Dr. Long treats many patients with advanced thyroid disease. In addition to providing clinical care, Dr. Long and her colleagues work to improve surgical education, and have partnered with several local training institutions to include their residents and fellows.
Want to learn more? Check out these two videos:
Honduras: Otolaryngology Division provides care
For the past four years, Dr. Scott Chaiet has traveled with a local UW otolaryngologist Michael McDonald to Honduras for a clinical service trip. Dr. McDonald who has been going for the last 17 years, in collaboration with Hackett Hemwall Patterson Foundation (HHPF). HHPF is a professional medical society and service learning organization dedicated to the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain using prolotherapy. They hope in the future to send several ENT residents for 3-4 week rotations.
For more information
Dr. Scott Chaiet, Otolaryngology
chaiet@surgery.wisc.edu
(608) 265-5470
Stories from the field
Wisconsin Surgery Team Works and Educates in Rwanada with Team Heart
In November of 2021, a team of health care professionals from across the country, which included a number of individuals from the University of Wisconsin Department of Surgery led by Amy Fiedler, MD, traveled to …
William D. Turnipseed, MD: Pioneering Vascular Surgery at UW-Madison
Bill and Sandy Turnipseed Vascular Surgery Fund: This fund was established in 2021 by Dr. William D. Turnipseed, Emeritus Professor of Vascular Surgery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. …
Vascular team goes global
Dr. Paul DiMusto and Dr. Alex Leung with Ethiopian colleagues. Dr. Paul DiMusto and vascular surgery resident Dr. Alex Leung recently traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as part of the Division of Vascular Surgery’s ongoing …
Department members travel to Ethiopia
Several Department members recently traveled to Ethiopia for a variety of research and teaching activities. Highlights include: Angela Ingraham, MD, MS, and Kristin Long, MD, MPH, traveled to Hawassa to participate in UW’s rotation at …
Bringing surgery to the world
Five billion. That’s the number of people in the world who have no access to basic surgical care according to the Lancet Commission Report on Global Surgery. Historically, the Western medical community tried to address …
Global Surgery
Contact us
Girma Tefera, MD
Professor, Division of Vascular Surgery
Vice Chair of Global Surgery
tefera@surgery.wisc.edu
(608) 265-4420
Christine Inthachith, MS
Global Health Coordinator, Global Surgery
Christine.inthachith@wisc.edu
(608) 262-1551