Neurosurgery Program goes virtual
The Covid-19 crisis continues in Bolivia and Paraguay, leaving us still a long way from resuming in-person gathering and training. But despite the crisis around them, our medical partners in both countries continue to treat patients in every specialty, and need support more than ever. While we deeply miss the opportunity to be physically present with our Bolivian and Paraguayan colleagues, these pandemic challenges compel us to learn how to connect in new ways. In early 2021, after months of dialogue and planning between Solidarity Bridge, Puente de Solidaridad, and our medical partners, we launched three series of virtual exchanges connected to the Solidarity Bridge Neurosurgery Program. These exchanges respond to the rapid expansion of our neurosurgical and neurological activities under the leadership of the Program’s medical director, Dr. Richard Moser, neurosurgeon at UMass Memorial Medical Center and Solidarity Bridge board member.
The first series of virtual exchanges brings together U.S.-based neurosurgeons and their counterparts in Sucre, Bolivia. To open the series, Dr. Moser helped convene a group of eight U.S. neurosurgeons, including veteran missioners and newcomers to Solidarity Bridge, for an introductory webinar with the Sucre neurosurgical community. Bolivian participants included the chief of neurosurgery at Sucre’s public Santa Barbara Hospital, Dr. David Gardeazabal, and three of his close colleagues at that hospital, as well as a neurologist, surgical resident, and neurosurgeons from the Caja Petrolera, another hospital in Sucre.
A few weeks later, this same group of U.S. and Sucre physicians reconvened via Zoom to share and discuss spinal and cranial tumor cases from their respective practices. This bi-directional exchange was practically useful and vocationally meaningful for both the U.S. and Bolivian participants. The intercultural discussion of tactical approaches to some common and other novel neurosurgical cases created a dynamic space for engagement. We are continuing these virtual exchanges with a monthly rotation of didactic sessions and case discussions.
The second series of virtual exchanges brings together many of the same U.S. professionals with the neurosurgical department of the Hospital Nacional de Itauguá in Paraguay, which is headed by Paraguayan neurosurgeon Dr. José Kuzli. An introductory gathering facilitated introductions among U.S. and Paraguayan neurosurgeons, reviewed the scope of neurosurgical care at the Itauguá Hospital, and identified collaborative strategies for exchange and training of neurosurgeons and residents. In the coming weeks, we will begin a series of webinars with a wider group of Paraguayan partners as part of a neuro-trauma initiative to cover elements of emergency medicine, trauma surgery, orthopedics, anesthesia, neurosurgery, critical care, nursing and rehabilitation. The target audience for this webinar series includes other public hospitals in Paraguay in addition to the Itauguá Hospital.
The third series, organized in partnership with the Bolivian Pediatric Society and a group of Bolivian pediatric neurologists, consists of webinars focused on diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy in children. This series grew out of an offer extended by Puente de Solidaridad to the Bolivian Pediatric Society to organize trainings for Bolivian pediatricians who encounter children with epileptic symptoms in their clinical practices. The president of the Bolivian Society, Dr. Tita Fernandez, convoked over 120 participants to join the first webinar on “febrile seizures and pediatric epilepsy.” Dr. Rebecca Garcia, a pediatric neurologist from Lurie Children’s Hospital, helped to organize the six-part webinar series. The Bolivian Medical College will issue continuing education credit to participants. Solidarity Bridge board member Kurt Florian is also supporting this instructional series through his connections with the Epilepsy Foundation of Colorado.
Our work over this past year has been shaped by the need for meaningful connections across distances. Though they are an imperfect substitute for being present with friends and colleagues, virtual platforms help meet this need. We celebrate the positive fruits of our adaptation and we continue to discern how we will carry these initiatives forward into the “new normal” as we emerge from pandemic restrictions. It is an honor to be part of a community dedicated to increasing equity in global healthcare and creating meaningful encounters across distances, whether virtual or otherwise.
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Solidarity Bridge would like to thank the many U.S., Bolivian, and Paraguayan physicians, staff, interpreters, and others who have contributed to the growth of our work in the field of neurosurgery and neurology, including the following (in alphabetical order):
Englerth Canadia, Victor Cuellar, David Cuevas, Robert Dempsey, Art DiPatri, Lindsay Doucette, Tita Fernandez, Kurt Florian, Luis Fraija, Rebecca Garcia, David Gardeazabal, Roberta Glick, Miguel Herrera, Juan Lorenzo Hinojosa, Bermans Iskandar, Cristian Jancko, Jose Kuzli, Javier Labin, Barbara Lazio, Charles Levy, Jeff Loeb, Pablo Maidana, Mayra Miranda, Ariel Montaño, Richard Moser, Patricia Paz, David Perez, Mark Piedra, Hipolito Ramirez, Luciana Rasguido, Ann Rhomberg, Maria Eugenia Rojas, Gail Rosseau, Fanor Saavedra, Carolina Sandoval, Diego Servian, Sherry Taylor, Patricia Vargas, John Weaver, and Nathan Yingling.