What a whirlwind of a day, Monday October 20, 2014. Today we started our first day of training with our enthusiastic partners at IMC. I’ve never met such a motivated group of healthcare workers who are dedicated to providing healthcare to women, especially those who are the most marginalized and underserved.
Our didactic session started with Dr Patricia Gordon’s introduction to CCC and welcoming our trainees to our international team. Next was my turn to teach them about the female anatomy, the pathophysiology of cervical dysplasia (pre-cancerous lesions of the cervix) and how to perform the “see and treat” procedure. After a brief review “VIA positive” and “VIA negative” lesions, I had each of our trainees come up to the front of the room and describe a lesion on each slide and make the diagnosis. I was impressed with how quickly they picked up the information.
Jackie Dang, the senior CCC coordinator, then did and excellent presentation on cryotherapy followed by a detailed explanation of proper sterilization technique by Elsa Miramontes RN, an explanation of data collection by CCC coordinator Stephen Morris and registration by Chelsea Kennard Rn.
Our trainees were engaged and asked great questions. I was truly impressed. You could sense the excitement in the room as the patients were congregating outside of the building waiting to be screened. We immediately started screening after our lecture as the patients streamed in despite the pouring rain. Our trainees demonstrated that they absorbed the information from our lecture and moved at an impressive pace. Our patients each thanked us saying, “asante sana”. I could not have imagined a more successful first day!