Global Health Experience in Adolescent Health
The Baylor College of Medicine Section on Adolescent and Sports Medicine would like to announce the addition of a global health experience as part of the Baylor College of Medicine Adolescent Medicine Fellowship. The clinical elective would be a 1 month experience at the Baylor International Pediatric Aids Initiative (BIPAI) Botswana-Baylor Children’s Clinical Center of Excellence (BBCCCOE) in Gaborone, Botswana. Travel expenses, room and board are provided. The experience would be included in the 2nd or 3rd year of fellowship. In addition, there is the option to take the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) tropical medicine course, either with an HIV focus or more generally focused. If a fellow desires to continue on and obtain certification in travel medicine by the ASTMH, they would need to log 100 hours of clinical care during the global health elective in addition to the course.
Background on the BIPAI Botswana:
The adolescent population served by BBCCCOE has grown rapidly starting with only 23 teens in 2005, it now serves more than 400 teen and is projected to have enrolled 600 in the center but 2011. This represents, conservatively, 10% of the HIV infected teens requiring antiretroviral medication in Botswana.
Teen clubs:
In addition to the serving medical needs of these teens, the BBCCCOE has an impressive support an education program for positive adolescents called the “teen clubs”; there are clubs at the COE as well as at the satellite clinics in outlying area. The teen club mission is “to empower HIV-positive adolescents to build positive relationships, improve their self-esteem and acquire life skills through peer mentorship, adult role-modeling and structured activities, ultimately leading to improved clinical and mental health outcomes as well as a healthy transition into adulthood.” This is achieved through very popular monthly meetings, each addresses an important aspect of living with HIV (e.g. adherence, stigma, grief and bereavement, and others).
Adolescent Forum:
The bi-monthly “Adolescent Forum” addresses teen club programmatic issues and serves as a social worker and/or psychologist-led case conference dealing with challenging adolescent patients, with a focus on those dealing with psychosocial issues.
Camp Hope:
Should the fellow’s experience be properly timed, participation at Camp Hope is also an option.
Camp Hope has been part of the BBCCCOE since 2005. The 5-day overnight camp was hosted at Maru-a-Pula School for 50 vulnerable children ages 10-12. The children chosen for camp are from the COE clinic population, with a strong preference for those children in challenging psychosocial situations who have significant problems with medication adherence. Camp Hope strives to give each child the opportunity to normalize their social experiences and improve their outlook on life. Since 2009, Teen Leaders from Teen Club have been involved as counselors and members of the leadership committee for Camp Hope. The teen counselors bring an unmistakable energy to each day's activities and also serve as role models and mentors to whom the campers can relate, particularly through their reinforcement of the importance of maintaining good ARV adherence.
For more information: http://bayloraids.org/africa/index.shtml