Muge Akpinar-Elci, Director of ODU's Center for Global Health
Leslie Hoglund
By Sherry DiBari
Old ֱ University's Center for Global Health (CGH) is working on a new project with Physicians for Peace (PFP), a Norfolk-based nonprofit whose mission is to improve surgical care worldwide.
The latest collaboration includes two projects led by Leslie Hoglund, former PFP director of monitoring and evaluation. She recently joined ODU as a clinical assistant professor.
According to Hoglund, the goal of the first project is to evaluate previous monitoring and evaluation indicators, data collection and reporting processes focused on "increasing quality surgical care and volume in low- and middle-income countries."
"This project will help to understand the relevance, feasibility, and usefulness of indicators and processes to determine their impact," Hoglund added. "The results of the project will help PFP decide which monitoring and evaluation activities to continue and where to expand going forward."
The second project is an assessment to identify what program and clinical data are available for collection and reporting from the pediatric intensive care unit at the Mercy James Centre (MJC) for Paediatric Surgery and Intensive Care in Malawi.
Goals for this project are "to establish what additional capacity may be needed for training and to better operationalize monitoring and evaluation in Malawi," Hoglund said.
Data reviewed by Hoglund will lead to a qualitative evaluation study of PFP's training and resource investments. This is critical given the absence of international medical educators onsite at MJC due to COVID-19.
The findings will reveal the impact of PFP's surgical, critical care, anesthesia health systems and sustainability programs at MJC.
Physicians for Peace lauded the project on social media.
"We're excited about our new collaboration with ODU," the post said. "Students will assess and impact our work to improve access to safe surgical care."
ODU's relationship with PFP isn't new, however. Over the past 20 years, they have partnered on numerous multidisciplinary projects.
"Old ֱ University and Physicians for Peace share an enduring and productive relationship in global health with multiple partners in our local communities and around the globe in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Haiti, India, the Philippines and Turkey to name a few," said Muge Akpinar-Elci, CGH director. "Together, they have partnered on countless programs, services, education and research initiatives in their pursuit to 'teach one, heal many.'"
Previous Physicians for Peace collaborations include establishment of the "Walking Free" program, which partnered with ODU's physical therapy department to help rehabilitate people with physical limitations.
Faculty also partnered with PFP to establish the first dental hygiene educational program in Central America at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Nicaragua in Leon, Nicaragua.
Through the Resource Mothers Program, nursing and physical therapy students worked in interprofessional teams with PFP to provide perinatal health education in the Dominican Republic.
Staff at Physicians for Peace and ODU's Center for Global Health also have an interconnected history.
In 2012, Shelley Mishoe, former dean of the College of Health Sciences, established the Center for Global Health. The center's mission was to "positively impact the health and well-being of populations through collaborations with faculty, students, communities and partners."
The task force to establish the CGH included former Physicians for Peace president and CEO Brig. Gen. Ron Sconyers. He later became the founding chair of the center's advisory board.
Likewise, Mishoe served on the PFP board of directors from 2012 until 2018.
Muge Akpinar-Elci, professor and chair of ODU's School of Community & Environmental Health, became the center's director in 2013.
Since then, Akpinar-Elci has nurtured the relationships with Physicians for Peace to move forward on new initiatives.
"The collaboration provides students with the opportunity to develop work experience and community engagement skills as well as enhance their organizational and interpersonal skills," Akpinar-Elci said. "As the Center for Global Health, we are committed to positively impacting the health and well-being of communities through collaborations among our partners. We're very much looking forward to continue and strengthening our partnership with PFP."
