Health Volunteers Overseas: A Model for Ethical and Effective Short-Term Global Health Training in Low-Resource Countries

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A volunteer provides training in hand surgery at Health Volunteers Overseas' project in Kampala, Uganda. © 2018/Health Volunteers Overseas
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Clinicians learn to suture at Health Volunteers Overseas' emergency medicine project in Thimphu, Bhutan. © 2018/Health Volunteers Overseas

TABLE 1.

Health Volunteers Overseas: 2018 in Numbers

	Number
Volunteers	411^{^a}
Volunteer assignments	449
Volunteers who completed 2 or more assignments (January 1 to December 31, 2018)	38
Projects	101
Volunteer days served	7,169
Local health professionals who received training and mentorship	≥3,000
Clinical areas	18
Countries	23
Volunteer leaders	228
Collaborating institutions	90

TABLE 2.

Health Volunteers Overseas' Clinical Training Areas and Current Project Sites (2018)

Clinical Area	Current Project Sites
Anesthesia (MD and nurse anesthesia)	Bhutan, Cambodia (Kampot, Siem Reap), Ghana (Kumasi, Tamale), Laos, Malawi, Rwanda, Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Hue)
Dermatology	Cambodia, Costa Rica, Nepal, Uganda, Vietnam
Hand surgery	Ghana, Honduras, Nicaragua^{^a}
Hand therapy	Ghana, Nicaragua^{^a}
Hematology	Cambodia, Peru, Tanzania, Uganda
Internal medicine	Bhutan, Cambodia (Kampot, Phnom Penh), Costa Rica, Guyana, India, Nepal, Uganda (Kabale, Kampala, Mbarara)
Nursing education	Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Siem Reap), Laos, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam (Hai Duong, Hue)
Obstetrics and gynecology	Cambodia, Haiti, Uganda, Vietnam
Oncology	Bhutan, Honduras, Nepal (Bhaktapur, Kathmandu), Uganda, Vietnam
Oral health	Haiti, Laos, Nepal, Peru, Tanzania
Orthopedics	Bhutan (Mongar, Thimphu), China, Costa Rica, Ghana, Myanmar, Nicaragua,^{^a} Philippines, St. Lucia, Tanzania, Uganda
Pediatrics	Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Nicaragua^{^a}, St. Lucia, Uganda (Kampala, Kabale)
Physical therapy	Bhutan, India, Malawi, Rwanda, St. Lucia, Vietnam (Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy, Da Nang Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital)
Wound and lymphedema	Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Siem Reap), Haiti, India
Other project areas	Emergency medicine: Bhutan, Cambodia
	Mental health: Bhutan
	Residency training: Bhutan
	Pharmacy: Uganda

TABLE 3.

Observations of On-Site Coordinators on General Areas of Improvement as a Result of Health Volunteers Overseas' Activities, 2018 Survey (N=65)^{^a}

Observations	% of On-Site Coordinators
Improvements in staff skills	91
Improvements in staff attitudes	88
Increased efficiency of care	86
New techniques introduced and utilized	85
Improvements in patient outcomes	84
Improvements in patient safety	82

TABLE 4.

Observations of On-Site Coordinators on Improvements Due to Health Volunteers Overseas Training, 2018 Survey

Country	Clinical Specialty	Observed Improvement/Accomplishment
Bhutan	Nursing/oncology	Development and implementation of nursing chemotherapy assessment form that was approved and implemented by nursing department as a standard of care practice
Bhutan	Emergency medicine	Initiation of emergency medicine residency program and emergency medical technician/emergency medical responder program
Cambodia	Anesthesia	Epidural analgesia protocol implemented in maternity department
Ghana	Hand therapy	Implementation of new protocol for management of flexor tendon repairs
Haiti	Physical therapy	Clinical guidelines and assessment form for stroke patients implemented
Nepal	Oral health	Clinical protocols in orthodontics implemented, and adoption of conscious sedation for the first time in the dental department
Peru	Hematology	Introduction of the Wright-Giemsa stain for better cytological evaluation of bone marrow smears in hematological diseases, new to hospital
Tanzania	Hematology	Clinical protocols developed for management of all hematological malignancies