Health Volunteers Overseas – with the help of a number of generous donors – offers several fellowship opportunities to senior orthopaedic residents and orthopaedic/hand surgeons who recently completed their training. As an organization devoted to improving global health through education, these fellowships serve a dual purpose in realizing the HVO mission.
Foremost to our mission, residents and young surgeons offer a unique educational opportunity for students and residents of orthopaedic care in resource-scarce countries. All residents who travel to HVO sites work with a preceptor and have the opportunity to share their knowledge with students and junior residents at the site. Nearing the end of or having completed their own education, these fellows have a unique perspective. They have up-to-date knowledge of their field and recent experience learning fundamentals, giving them an understanding of obstacles students and young residents may face and the tools to help overseas students overcome them. They offer an important perspective to students and residents at HVO project sites.
In addition, when senior residents and young surgeons work abroad with a preceptor and their overseas colleagues, they gain a new perspective on global orthopaedic care. They have an opportunity to see their practice from a different viewpoint and witness constraints unique to resource-scarce regions. They gain a global perspective on the importance of their practice – and an appreciation for the challenges their overseas colleagues face.
A fellow who traveled to Nicaragua in 2014 summarized the experience in her post-assignment report:
Global health has been an important component to my career development over the past decade. I think one of the more challenging elements to this field is finding a way to make a lasting impact on the communities you visit. I believe education is the most sustainable way to positively influence a resource-limited area and working with the orthopaedicstaff/residents at the site felt mutually beneficial. I think it is important in life to go outside of your “comfort zone” and be challenged. I felt these things multiple times while in Nicaragua … my mind was constantly working through new problems and learning to think about the field of orthopaedic surgery in a fashion different from back in the US … It broadened my perspective and appreciation.
HVO is currently accepting applications for the Kemme Family Foundation Traveling Fellowship (DUE APRIL 1st), the AFSH-HVO Young Surgeon Traveling Fellowship, and a number of Orthopaedics Traveling Fellowships. Please visit our Fellowships & Funding page to learn more.