Memphis medical center trains Ukrainian medical professionals

by the Rev. Joe Kerrigan and Cathleen Fakult

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Through the assistance of the International Children's Heart Foundation and with funding by a grant from the Soros Foundation, five staff physicians and two critical care nurses from the Kyiv Institute for Cardiovascular Surgery recently completed two months of study at LeBonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis.

The team members were Vasili Lazorishinets, cardiovascular surgeon; Vladimir Cheburakhin, anesthesiologist; Oksana Karasevich, intensivist; Maria Rudenko, cardiologist; Vyacheslav Beshlyaga, radiologist; and Olena Kuznetsova, cardiology nurse.

Training the Ukrainian team fit nicely with the over-all aim of the International Children's Heart Foundation: to provide children in Third World countries with an improved level of health care.

"We hope that they carried back to their native country a better understanding of the care of children with congenital heart disease and the standards that are necessary to have good results," said Dr. William Novick, who not only oversaw the work of the Ukrainian contingent but hosted three of the doctors in his home. The remaining members of the team stayed in an apartment near LeBonheur.

"The advantage of bringing the team to Memphis was that it provided us with an opportunity to exchange ideas concerning the care of children with congenital heart disease," Dr. Novick continued. "Additionally, we had the luxury of being able to spend a great deal more time with our Ukrainian colleagues than we had during our brief two-week visit to Ukraine (last winter)."

"The size of the team did present something of a logistical problem, with the transportation of seven individuals to and from various social events, the grocery store, and places to shop for presents for family members," he said. But through the cooperation of volunteers, it worked out nicely.

The Ukrainian team was the second international unit to visit Memphis under the direction of the ICHF. Three Croatian physicians had worked with Dr. Novick for six months in 1994.

"We believe their time here [in July-August 1995] was well spent," said Dr. Novick. "They are now operating on more difficult cases than they previously did and are able to deliver better anesthetic and post-operative care."

The opportunity for international physicians and other medical personnel to travel to Memphis and continue their medical education in such an intensive way was, for these Ukrainian physicians, the opportunity of a lifetime. Hopefully, the knowledge and skills acquired from this experience will in turn benefit the unfortunate children of Ukraine born with congenital heart disease.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 11, 1996, No. 6, Vol. LXIV

| Home Page |