Julia Tanguay Completes Fellowship in Ghana

Julia Tanguay, OMS-IV, as part of a fellowship with Child Family Health International (an organization that provides community-based global health education programs) traveled to Ghana for four weeks to help develop two programs.

The first program, Child Health and Social Determinants, was at Princess Marie Louise Children’s Hospital in Accra,Ghana. Her goal was to learn about the most prevalent pediatric diseases, to understand how Ghana was tackling pediatric public health challenges, and to understand the cultural and socioeconomic factors that increase risk of these diseases within the pediatric population. SD Tanguay worked one-on-one with preceptors and the medical director, observing and working in the hospital, emergency room, clinics, wards, and public health units. She also looked at how cultural factors were the keys to social determinants of health by attending clinical and mortality meetings and performing outreach and home visits.

The second program, Hospital Medicine in Coastal Ghana, was located in Cape Coast, Ghana, where SD Tanguay worked in the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital. For this half of the fellowship, she wanted to better understand the Ghanian health care system and services, as well as the challenges faced in improving health outcomes. SD Tanguay observed and worked with various departments and clinics, visited with child welfare clinics and programs, attended workshops and meetings, participated in grand rounds and case studies, and learned more about endemic tropical diseases and other issues faced by the Ghanian population.

For more photos, as well as more detailed information about her goals, her day-to-day activities, and her work, visit her blog at https://ghana939.wordpress.com/.