Interested in learning more about the breadth of issues in global health care? HVO has initiated a series of webinars focused on a variety of issues in global health – from new WHO initiatives, to innovative educational projects spearheaded by volunteers in these challenging times. The sessions run an hour in length, so they can be viewed during a lunch break. However, since we know that people have full schedules these days, we are also recording these sessions and will be posting them on the HVO YouTube channel.
We urge you to come back to this page and follow us on social media to learn more about upcoming webinars and to see what you might have missed.
Most Recent Session
Education, Collaboration, Transformation: Lessons Learned from HVO’s Rehabilitation Project in Suriname
March 19, 2024 |12:00 p.m. ET
HVO’s project in Suriname, which lasted from 1999 to 2015, changed the landscape of physical therapy in the country by taking a nearly a non-existent training program at Anton de Kom University in Paramaribo and building it up into a department capable of training and retaining skilled practitioners. HVO volunteers worked closely with local partners to develop a working curriculum and master’s level program for the university. Suriname went from having a total of nine practicing physical therapists in the 90s, mainly educated in the Netherlands, to over seventy-five locally trained and practicing physical therapists in 2023. During this webinar, HVO volunteers and partners will discuss how they worked together, built the program through collaboration, and what long-term impact they have seen as a direct result of their efforts.
Moderator:
Jennifer Audette, PT, PhD
Dr. Jennifer Audette is an Associate Professor at the University of New England. She has been in academic positions for the last 20 years.
Dr. Jennifer Audette is an Associate Professor at the University of New England. She has been in academic positions for the last 20 years. She is a past member and chair of the HVO Physical Therapy Steering Committee, and is the coordinator for the Guatemala Rehabilitation project. She has done volunteer teaching and curricular development work through HVO in Suriname, Haiti, and Guatemala. In 2019 she was honored with HVO’s Golden Apple Award. In addition to work with HVO, Jennifer served on the APTA, Board of the Global Health Special Interest Group for 15 years in three capacities. In April 2022 she was elected to the Executive Board for the North America Caribbean Region for World Physiotherapy. She is a 2020 graduate of the American Physical Therapy Association, Fellowship in Education Leadership.
She lives in Portland, Maine (USA) with her husband. She has three daughters and toddling granddaughter.
Dr. Tim Kauffman’s 50 year distinguished physical therapy career includes work in the US Army and Reserve Unit Hospitals, nursing homes, home care, research, lecturing, and private practice.
Dr. Tim Kauffman’s 50 year distinguished physical therapy career includes work in the US Army and Reserve Unit Hospitals, nursing homes, home care, research, lecturing, and private practice. He has served as an adjunct professor and as a clinical professor. He is an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and is a Fellow in the APTA and the Gerontological Society of America. He has lectured nationally and internationally on geriatric physical therapy care, and his research has been published in a variety of journals. He is the lead editor of three editions of A Comprehensive Guide to Geriatric Rehabilitation. Dr. Kauffman has served the Academy of Geriatric Physical Therapy, Health Volunteers Overseas, the United States Bone and Joint Initiative, Lancaster Arthritis Foundation, Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the American Red Cross Board of Directors for the Lancaster Chapter. He and his wife Brenda reside in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and they remain actively engaged in the community.
Dr. Tony Chang is a physiotherapist who believes in the people of his country Suriname and has served them for more than 50 years. He holds a PhD. in Medical Sciences from the University of Groningen (Netherlands) in the field of Gerontology. He is retired, but still actively engaged in the community by doing presentations, lecturing, and sometimes treating patients. Dr. Chang has served multiple terms as president of the Surinaamse Vereniging voor Fysiotherapie (SVF – Surinamese Physiotherapy Association) over a 23-year period and represented his country in many meetings of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT). Dr. Chang served as chairman of the North America/Caribbean Region of the WCPT from 2003-2007. In this capacity, he was able to make contact with various organizations such as HVO and colleagues all over the world.
Dr. Chang served as physiotherapist at the Academic Hospital Paramaribo for almost 25 years and as a professor at Anton de Kom University for 20 years. He led the development of a physiotherapy program and was its first director.
Dr. Chang and his wife have three daughters (one of them is also a PT in the Netherlands) and are proud grandparents of three grandchildren. He was a member of the Round Table Suriname and is now a member of the Rotary Club of Paramaribo.
Roshni Ramdas, a dedicated educator, graduated from the Anton de Kom University of Suriname (AdeKUS) in 2010 with a BSc in physiotherapy. During her time as a student, she had the privilege to engage in online and face-to-face lectures with passionate lecturers coming from other parts of the world, like those from Health Volunteers Overseas. From 2010-2011 she worked as a physiotherapist in a Medical Health Center in Suriname where she successfully set up a physiotherapy outpatient unit from scratch.
In 2011, Roshni pursued a Master’s in Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy (Neurological Disorders) at KU Leuven in Belgium, completing the program in 2013. Returning to AdeKUS, she became integral to the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMeW). Her roles included lecturer, secretary, chair of the program committee, and head of the department of Neuromotor Disorders.
Named the program director of the physiotherapy program in March 2023, Roshni and her staff played a pivotal role in preparing accreditation of the BSc physiotherapy program, a significant milestone. In 2024-2026, she plans to contribute to the curriculum evaluation and transformation of the MSc physiotherapy program, preparing for accreditation. With a history of enhancing teaching environments and driving educational processes, Roshni remains an influential figure in shaping education at AdeKUS.
Practical Strategies for Balancing Our Personal and Professional Lives: Guided by Compassion for Self and Others | November 2023
This recording is no longer available.
For over 15 years, Dr. Kolkin has been giving Life Balance presentations to healthcare professionals and others worldwide. He has generously agreed to give his presentation live for the HVO community.
Practical Strategies for Balancing Our Personal and Professional Lives: Guided by Compassion for Self and Others
Most healthcare professionals are, by nature, compassionate human beings. However, we also face unique challenges that can interfere with our ability to live happier, less stressful, and more balanced lives. This presentation will focus on (1) the source of true happiness (2) the role played by compassion for self and others in achieving this elusive goal (3) roadblocks to success (4) universally relevant, practical, science-based strategies for getting back on track.
Dr. Jon Kolkin has been an HVO member, volunteer, and donor since 1999. His extensive travels have taken him all over the world and he is an experienced orthopaedic surgeon as well as an internationally recognized and award-winning author, photographer, musician, Integrative Medicine Health Coach, accomplished athlete, and president of the Shades of Compassion Foundation. Shades of Compassion is a non-profit dedicated to promoting effective, sustained engagement in acts of compassion among a diverse population worldwide, for the purpose of enhancing the health and well-being of this planet and all her inhabitants. His book, Inner Harmony: Living in Balance, which includes forwards by the Dalai Lama and Queen Mother of Bhutan, has received three international photography book awards.
COVID: Challenges and Opportunities in Global Education | September 2022 | Watch it here!
The COVID pandemic presented both challenges and opportunities in global education. Three HVO on-site coordinators share their institutions’ pandemic experience as well as important considerations for overseas volunteers interested in returning to HVO project sites.
Learning Objectives: 1. Recognize the impact of the pandemic on delivery of care worldwide. 2. Examine the effect of the pandemic on the delivery of educational programs for health professionals. 3. Recognize the ways in which virtual education can be leveraged to provide support. 4. Understand considerations for HVO volunteers returning to sites for overseas placements.
Moderator: Dr. Ankita Sagar, project director, internal medicine Costa Rica
Panelists: Mr. Robert Sowa, physical therapy Ghana Dr. José Alonso Acuña Feoli, internal medicine in Costa Rica Mr. Duong Vibol, nursing, pediatrics, and hematology in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Developing and Implementing Cornerstone Nursing Documents in Cambodia | March 2022 | Watch it here!
Manila Prak works with the USAID-Enhancing Quality of Healthcare Activity project, through FHI 360 Cambodia, where she is the Team Leader of Healthcare Regulation and Accreditation. FHI 360’s work in Cambodia focuses on human development goals with the most at-risk populations. Their health projects cover a wide spectrum of health needs from AIDS to malaria, and family planning to substance use. She also works on a volunteer basis as President of the Cambodian Association of Nurses which is actively involved as a co-facilitator for the ICN Leadership for Change Program for Cambodian Nurses.Richard Henker is on faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and a practicing nurse anesthetist at UPMC-Presbyterian Hospital. A member of HVO since 2004, he currently serves on the Board of Directors, and has been on the Steering Committee for nurse anesthesia, as well as a project director. He received the Golden Apple Award for his work with Cambodia.In 2014, Ms. Prak and Dr. Henker were key initiative members of the Technical Working Group of nurses in Cambodia that developed a core of guiding standards for nursing practice in Cambodia, which were then approved by the Ministry of Health and disseminated throughout the country.
Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) and International Volunteer Projects in times of COVID | October 2021 | Watch it here!
Dashrath Kafle, BDS, MDS and Brian Hollander, DMD present: Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) and International Volunteer Projects in times of COVID.” This course explains how an HVO volunteer program in Nepal adjusted to the travel barriers and implemented virtual education with US volunteers to continue the program during the pandemic.
Virtual Projects at HVO: Successes & Challenges | April 2021 | Watch it here!
Habib Ghaddar, MD, FACP and Elizabeth Schick, DDS, MPH present “Virtual Projects at HVO: Successes & Challenges.” Join Dr. Ghaddar and Dr. Shick to learn more about how their virtual projects were developed, what challenges they faced, and what contributed to their success.
An Introduction to WHO’s Rehabilitation 2030 with Monika Mann, PT, MPH | March 2021 | Watch it here!
Monika Mann, PT, MPH presented “An Introduction to WHO’s Rehabilitation 2030” which highlighted the WHO initiative designed to recognize the unmet global rehabilitation needs and the importance of incorporating rehabilitation in strengthened health systems.
International Volunteerism, Research, and Education for Orthopaedic Capacity Building in Malawi | February 2021 | Watch it here!
Kiran Agarwal-Harding, MD, MPH presented “International Volunteerism, Research, and Education for Orthopaedic Capacity Building in Malawi”, based on his post-doctorate fellowship in the country.
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