Supervising Attending:
- Dr. Kiran Thakur
The department is generally able to support one senior resident (PGY-3 or 4) to participate in an international clinical or research elective. We recommend that the elective be no less than two weeks and preferably one month. We have formal agreements with hospitals in South Africa, the Dominican Republic and Malawi. Residents submit the internal departmental application for the elective typically in December and are notified by February. International electives must be arranged at least 120 days prior to travel.
Clinical elective opportunities:
Edendale hospital (Kwa Zulu-Natal, South Africa):
https://www.columbiamedhousestaff.com/international-electives
Edendale Hospital opened its doors under apartheid in 1954. Today it has roughly 900 beds, staffed by the departments of medicine, surgery, OB/GYN, pediatrics, and orthopedics. The hospital is a part of South Africa’s national health system and serves about 1 million primarily Zulu patients in and around Petermartizburg, the capital of Kwa-Zulu-Natal. Visiting neurology residents are integrated into the inpatient service, and also serve a consultative role. Serving a predominantly impoverished population, Edendale’s patients suffer from familiar ailments as well as advanced HIV, tuberculosis, and the infectious diseases unique to rural Africa. You may work with Zulu healers, and have the opportunity to work with local community groups to improve their healthcare infrastructure. There is an established long-standing relationship with the internal medicine program at CUMC. English speaking.
Hospital Salvador B. Gautier (Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic):
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hosp-Salvador-B-Gautier/203044796391972
The Hospital Dr. Salvador B. Gautier is one of the main teaching hospitals in the country and is also the base of one of only a few neurology training programs in the country. The hospital is administered by the Dominican Social Security Office (IDSS), and is therefore a public hospital. It is located in Santa Domingo, the capital. The city has a population of over two million people, and the hospital is busy. Neurology residents would work alongside neurology trainees in the hospital on the inpatient service as well as subspecialty clinics. Spanish language skills are necessary.
Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (Blantyre, Malawi):
QECH one of the largest government tertiary hospitals in the country and the main teaching hospital for University of Malawi College of Medicine. It acts as the referral hospital from all districts surrounding Blantyre with over 1000 beds, which is the main city in the Southern part of the country. There is no adult neurologist in the country and one pediatric neurologist. In the clinical elective, you will have an opportunity to attend and participate in teaching conferences including daily morning report, and teaching of medical students and registrars. You will serve as a neurology consultant in the hospital, and have the opportunity to attend several clinics including neurology clinic and HIV clinic.
Updated 6/25/2023