Content Resources

The Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons is a five-year surgical residency program to train 100 Christian African doctors in mission hospitals by 2020. At the present, there are sixty-four residents being trained in nine countries. A great need exists for long and short term general surgeons and sub-specialists to participate. In addition, there is a spiritual curriculum to prepare each resident for spiritual growth and hospital leadership.

Single medical professionals are resilient in a cross-cultural setting and have the opportunity to be highly effective in service. The greatest challenges impact the personal home life of the individual. Applications to increase resiliency in the personal life will be explored with attention given to the relational and sexual domains of life. The workshop will include a presentation followed by designated time to pose questions and dialogue about the material.

Our call to health care ministry is a daily call to share the compassion of Christ, and “suffer with” those we are called to serve. If our own lives are not intimately bound with our Savior, deep engagement and compassion for our patients can be difficult or shallow at best, leading to disillusionment, distance, and burn-out. Worship and spiritual vibrancy, evidenced by a deep dependence on the Lord, are the foundation for compassionate ministry. This workshop will explore Christ’s call to share in the suffering of others, how a life of worship is foundational for ministry, and ways to foster spiritual vibrancy that sustains our compassion for others.

2 Kings chapter 2 through 8 list 16 miracles related to the prophets Elijah and Elisha. 2 Kings 7:2 says something I have frequently found myself saying: "Even if the Lord opened the window of Heaven might this thing be..." Or translated it might say "That couldn't happen" or "God can't possibly do that." My stories of God's goodness and answers to prayer fit in the category of 1. Impossible Obstructions, 2. Impossible odds, 3. Impossible Poverty, 4. Impossible visibility, and 5. Impossible timing. They illustrate how God Provided, Guided, Protected, and demonstrated His Providence over 81 years as a missionary child of a medical missionary and then a medical missionary starting in 1966 in Ethiopia.

Healthy Missionary Marriages will be the topic. This talk will be designed to help singles who might decide to marry during their service overseas, and married couples serving overseas.

Session Description:Widely acceptable in Middle Eastern countries, gender based violence (GBV) in the region is far from being well documented. Inherent socio-cultural norms in most settings, contribute to eclectic tolerance of GBV, a fatalistic attitude and helplessness among victims. Women, adolescents and other vulnerable population groups, especially internally displaced people (IDP) and refugees are at high risk suffering preventable clinical complications and fatal consequences. This session will survey GBV in the Middle East highlighting its inherent root causes presenting the epidemiological picture in the region. You will learn of the clinical consequences of female genital cutting. The importance of region-specific data, and challenges in data-driven documentation will be discussed. UN prevention and care programing, and culturally acceptable initiatives will be introduced. Anecdotal experiences from the field will be shared on ministering to refugees and IDP victims of GBV.

Eighty percent of the cases of cervical cancer are found in poorly developed countries. There is not adequate screening available to diagnose precancerous lesions and treat them. Many lives can be saved using methods that do not rely highly on technology advanced training. This session will describe the scope of the problem, the tools available for diagnosis and treatment and the ones that would be applicable in a low resourced setting. Additionally, some training will occur to use visual inspection with acetic acid so that its applicability and ease of use is demonstrated.

Every year 3.6 million girls in Africa and the Middle East undergo a procedure in which their external genitalia is cut and sometimes sewn. This cultural practice can lead to numerous complications throughout a female’s life, especially during childbirth. This session will focus on the care of women who have experienced female genital cutting, while also discussing cultural attitudes and eradication efforts. Warning: graphic images will be presented.

Malaria has been a health threat for hundreds of years, yet continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Using case presentations, and drawing from the speaker’s international experience, this workshop will explore what’s new in malaria diagnosis and treatment and consider the emotional, mental, social and cultural as well as medical implications of the disease.

This session will cover the topic of sourcing medicines for missions. We will discussthe following: counterfeit medication, substandard medication, risks and benefits of obtaining medication in the united states and transporting it overseas versus obtaining the medication in developing nations, how to source medications that will be used in developing nations.

A woman in the United States often has 15 visits to her healthcare provider and as many laboratory evaluations during the course of her pregnancy. Is this a realistic model of care in the developing world? This session will discuss the essential components of antenatal care that can be practically delivered in low and middle-income countries, with the goal of reducing maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality.

The principles of abdominal surgery are not different in Africa, but the presentation, available diagnostic tools and frequency of certain etiologies is significantly different. The approach and therapy the more common causes of the acute abdomen will be the primary diseases discussed.