Learning Together

A key part of the mission of CAMTA is to provide educational opportunities. While in Ecuador we share our knowledge and expertise by mentoring side by side in the operating room and on the ward with local Residents, Nurses and Doctors. This is a two way mentorship, and the Canadian members of the team have just as much to learn from our Ecuadorian partners. Our Canadian surgeons provide workshops on various ortho surgical techniques and our Ecuadorian colleagues teach us how to work with limited resources, to innovate and be respectful of the cultural context we are working in.

While working side by side in the Central Sterilization Unit of the hospital this past week, the local staff expressed an interest in learning more about how we cleaned and sterilized medical instruments, a vital procedure in the patient care cycle. We recruited Wincy Ho as our trainer, given her background in instrument sterilization and agreed to hold a workshop for the women working in this area. Although Wincy had brought powerpoint slides with her, she quickly scrapped that idea and felt an experiential demonstration would be the best teaching methodology given our language barrier. With Ana as our interpretor, Wincy demonstrated Universal Precautions for handwashing, appropriate gowning techniques and instrument washing techniques. In a hospital with no running hot water – the cleaning, drying and sterilization of instruments is critical to ensuring the patient is safe from the possibility of infection. The staff have naturally found a solution to this limitation by boiling water in large pots on two hot plates in the sterilization room all day long. Together we made sure we always had enough boiling hot water for CAMTA and local hospital surgeries daily. There were many questions at the workshop and we brainstormed together how the staff could ensure their own protection, as well as the patient’s, given their limited access to medical supplies and equipment.

Wincy Ho (in black frame glasses) with local nurses

Sharing ideas and providing learning opportunities is one of the many ways we can improve the lives of others while in Ecuador and throughout the year.

--Blog post submitted by Janet Emmett