The Haiti Experience

Description

The annual medical mission to Haiti is a weeklong educational trip to St. Boniface Hospital in Fond des Blancs, Haiti, during which the participating third-year residents, accompanying attendings, and a Haitian Ob-Gyn physician perform advanced gynecologic procedures (primarily abdominal hysterectomies and myomectomies) in a resource-poor environment. The trip usually takes place in September or October. Participation in the trip is voluntary; however, resident interest in this extraordinary experience is usually high.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the trip is to benefit women in Haiti. Residents who participate in the program will:

  • gain skill in transcending cultural barriers to healthcare
  • be exposed to unique surgical pathology and techniques
  • become more cost-conscious by working in a resource-poor environment
  • develop insight into health policy issues

Moreover, through this experience, residents are exposed to potential career paths, and often experience a reawakening of their fundamental motivation for pursuing medicine as a career.

Requirements

Caring for women in underserved areas of the world is a privilege and not a right. This privilege will be reserved for residents who maintain the highest professional standards in their role as physicians in training at the University of Florida. To be considered for participation in the mission trip, a resident must:

  • Have completed two years of Ob-Gyn residency training at UF
  • Be in good academic standing in the program
  • Have completed evaluations on 80% of the students they supervised during each rotation (compliance to be determined by the Clerkship Director)
  • Have completed evaluations in New Innovations on 100% of faculty they worked with during internship (i.e., all of the MFM and Gyn faculty)
  • Have completed program evaluations in New Innovations at the end of their first two years of residency
  • Have routinely logged cases performed (“routine” is defined as entering cases at a minimum of every two weeks)
  • Be “good citizens” of the program
  • Be in good overall health
  • Per department policy, have no delinquent medical records (over 14 days)

Only two residents will be able to participate in the trip. If, at the end of second year, all four second-year residents meet the criteria for participation, selection of the two residents who will travel to Haiti will be based on a tie-breaker. The first tie-breaker will be the two residents with the highest student evaluations. The next tie-breaker will be the resident(s) with the highest faculty evaluation(s). The final tie-breaker will be based on the highest score on the CREOG in-service examinations.

If only one or no second-year residents qualify for the trip, rising fourth-year residents who were not able to go to Haiti the year before will be considered for participation if they have met the above criteria during their third year.