Pay It Forward: The West African Health Foundation

The West African Health Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization formed by a group of physicians concerned with the poor health and nutritional status of the people, particularly children and women, of the West African sub-region. Founded in 2001, the primary mission of the foundation is to provide health and wellness education, have medical professionals render medical care, and donate much needed medication and medical supplies to the underserved.

Jemina and I had the pleasure of attending the WAHF 9th Annual Benefit Gala in March. The gala focused on gathering funds for the building of a Tertiary Care Center in Juaben, Ghana. The hospital, which is at the heart of the vision of the foundation, is a proposed 250- bed "green" facility.The gala also emphasized the previous projects WAHF has undertaken and their many volunteer opportunities.

 Through their tireless efforts, The West African Health Foundation has become a beacon of hope for a people that are in desperate need of aid and resources. Since it's inception over 10 years ago, they have provided services that have changed the lives of countless men, women, and children. Whether it's providing mosquito netting for beds in an attempt to decrease malaria infection, or offering breast cancer screening, WAHF is at the forefront of the ongoing battle to improve healthcare in Africa. From us at Ohemaas MD, we thank you.

For more information and to find out how you can help and/or donate, go to

West African Health Foundation

New Series Alert: "Pay It Forward"

As part of Ohemaa's MD's initiative to provide substantial information, we found it important to highlight others who are also working hard to make a difference in healthcare.

"Pay It Forward" is our way of bringing awareness to great individuals and organizations with a heart for helping others We also hope to provide links to other great resources, all the while drawing attention to important issues at hand. If you have an organization or program, or know one that you would like to be featured, please email us at ohemaasaj@gmail.com

Thanks!
Ohemaa's MD

The Father's Have Gone into the Forest to Look for Their Daughters

Mother crying for her daughter

In the dead of the night on April 14th, 234 school girls in the northeastern town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria were kidnapped from their boarding school after being recalled to take a Physics exam. 43 girls have escaped, 187 girls remain missing according to the principle of the school.  All of the other schools in the region were closed amidst threats from terrorist organizations who are against education, especially the education of young girls. The prime suspects are Nigeria’s Islamic extremist rebels, known as Boko Haram, a violent group campaigning to establish an Islamic Shariah state in Nigeria, whose 170 million people are about half Muslim and half Christian. They are also responsible for multiple bombings in Abuja just prior to the mass abduction and have been implicated in abducting some girls and young women in attacks on schools, villages and towns but this mass kidnapping is unprecedented. Boko Haram is an enemy of education, in fact, the name Boko Haram in slang terms means “Western education is sinful.” The extremists have been known to use the young women as porters, cooks and sex slaves.


How did it happen? A group of men dressed like militia shot down guards and stormed into the girls' dormitory claiming to be government forces sent to rescue them. They loaded the girls on a truck and took them towards the forest, but some of the girls jumped off the back of the truck and escaped. There are also some reports of girls escaping from the forest. The Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, has been criticized for not doing enough to ensure the speedy return of the girls back to their homes. Some of the difficulty lies in the geography of the region. The girls are being kept in a dense forest that makes a ground level attack difficult and given the fact that the girls are hostages, an aerial attack is dangerous.

Some of the fathers and brothers of the girls hopped on motorcycles and headed into the forest in search of the girls. They followed the tracks of the kidnappers up to Baale village, where villagers told them the gunmen had passed through "and were camped with the girls in a creek some hundreds of meters outside the village." The villagers gave account that some of the girls had even been brought back to the village at gunpoint to fetch water. One of the fathers told CNN, "we were warned by residents of Baale not to proceed, saying they feared for our lives because our sticks and (outdated) guns were no match for the heavy arms of the Boko Haram gunmen," he explained. "The villagers warned us we would all be killed if we dared face the gunmen and would put the lives of our daughters in danger. We have therefore abandoned the search for our daughters since we know where they are but we don't have the capacity to liberate them," Mark added.

Perhaps these girls wanted to be Scientists or Doctors or Engineers or Mathematicians. Now they may be sex slaves. God forbid.

This is a very difficult to post to write because it appears that the situation is helpless. It appears that there is nothing that we can do in our own corner of the world while the girls are being entrapped and enslaved in another small, dark, heavily guarded corner of the world. But such is not the case. We can pray for their safe return and we can try and bring as much media attention to this as possible by staying informed and spreading the word. The brighter the light that shines on this situation the more heat the government will feel to ensure the girls are returned home safely. According to NPR, activists in Nigeria are plannig a million-women march on Abuja this Wednesday to demand their rescue.

Free. People. Everywhere.


Do you think the media is doing a good job covering this topic?

How I Did It: Optometry

Dr. Ngoddy is an optometrist in the metro Atlanta area. To ask her questions, comment below! 

1) How and why did you choose optometry?

      

      Interesting story, I attended Xavier University of Louisiana located in New Orleans, LA. This school is known nationwide for its role in getting African American students into doctoral programs. When I started college I was pre-med and had every intention of attending medical school. Alas, life had an entirely different plan for me. I applied my senior year of college for admission into medical school but my MCAT score was low. During my last semester of college I was riding with one of my college roommates discussing our next moves ( basically I was venting she knew her next move), and when I finally paused to take. Breath she said " you should look into optometry, it's mostly non-invasive, has a good quality of life and good pay- plus you will still be a primary care doctor and have patients." This conversation sparked something in me that day and led me to form my plan B. So while I applied again for medical school I also applied for the OAT and applied for optometry school. After being wait listed for medical school (even though my MCAT score improved significantly) I decided God was leading me in a different direction and I decided to follows best decision I've ever made in my life.

2) What is a typical work day?

​There are many different modalities in which optometrist can work. I chose to become an independent contractor so I own my own business and lease space from a Chain. Specifically, I lease space from a Sam’s Club located in Morrow, GA. I also provide fill in services for other doctors in the Metro Atlanta area. In the duration of my day I provide several primary care optometric services to patients including diagnosis and treatment of common ocular conditions such as myopia, hyperopia, and presbyopia (basically finding glasses/contact lens prescriptions), as well as notso common conditions like glaucoma. In the event that a patient requires surgical intervention or treatment beyond my scope I refer the patient to a specialist and co-manage the condition.

3)What is the most and least rewarding aspect of your job?

​Most rewarding aspect is that the majority of people seeking my services can have a favorable outcome with the prescription of glasses or contact lens. The least rewarding is havingto give someone bad information about their vision. Most ocular emergencies require immediate attention for the best preservation of vision however patients are often slow to act and this can lead to poor prognosis.

4)What educational requirements are necessary prior to applying to optometry school?

​Undergraduate degrees and the fulfillment of course requirements set forth by the optometry school you are applying to. Students also have to have taken and done well on the OAT for entrance.

5) Would you choose this career if you could make this decision again

​

          ABSOLUTELY!

6)What do you wish you knew about optometry before you started that you know now?

​That many optometrist are business owners. If I had prior knowledge I would have sought out business classes in undergrad to better prepare me for that possibility.

7)Are there any trends in your career that concern you? What is the future of this field?

          There is a very promising future for optometry, especially as many optometrists move towards more medical models in their practice.

8)Career and Life Balance,is it possible?

​In optometry you can work as much as you want and as little as you want depending on how you decide to practice. You can do anything from fill in once a month to full time in a practice or hospital setting. In fact many people join the profession for the great quality of life .

9) Average salary?

         90,000-110,000 I think

10) Any websites you recommend for further information?

         http://www.nationaloptometricassociation.com

         http://www.aoa.org/

         http://www.theeyepro.com (my business website)

Rest in Peace, Dr. Teleka Patrick

As a physician, facing death is an inevitable part of the job description. However when it hits close to home, especially to a fellow doctor, no amount of training can prepare you for the emotion you feel.

Dr. Teleka Patrick was a 30 year old psychiatry resident at Western Michigan University who went missing after leaving work on December 5,2013. Her car was found abandoned approximately 100 miles from the hospital in Indiana  with her wallet and credit cards inside. On April 7 a fisherman discovered a body in Lake Charles in Porter, Indiana which was later identified as Dr. Patrick. 

We may never know the circumstances surrounding Teleka's death. The Kalamazoo County Sheriff Office has deemed it an accident, but autopsy/ toxicology results are pending. During the search for Teleka,  the question of her mental health arose. On the day of her disappearance, friends and coworkers stated she acted "irrational" and showcased "erratic" behavior. Then Youtube videos were released which posed the question of whether or not she could tell the difference between reality and fantasy. The fact that she stalked gospel artist/pastor Marvin Sapp also shed light on a serious issue Dr. Patrick was facing. 

I do believe that Teleka had some form of mental illness, however since she was the "healer" no one may have picked up on the signs or even inquired about what was going on in her personal life. She herself may have not found it necessary to seek medical attention; after all, she's a psychiatrist, right? Too often physicians have placed their own health in jeopardy just for the sake of helping others (remember when I was sick)? And too often by the time we do finally decide to take care of ourselves the damage has already been done.

A bright, beautiful woman has been lost and though I did not know Taleka personally, my sister in medicine is gone. Her family released this statement on the Find Taleka Facebook page:

"Over the past several months, you have gotten to know Teleka Cassandra Patrick. You’ve gotten to know her how we knew her and you’ve seen her bright and caring smile. She was beautiful, intelligent, and God-fearing. You’ve prayed for Teleka, cried for Teleka, and worked to find Teleka and we thank you. We thank you for walking this difficult journey with our family.

Teleka’s death is not the ending we had hoped for, however, the journey does not end here. As we mourn Teleka, we must also honor her; honor the life she led, honor her kind spirit and honor her devotion to God and others. Teleka had a passion and zest for life and no matter the circumstances that led up to her death, we are certain that she would not have taken her own life. Many questions remain, but what is certain is that we will love her forever and her legacy will continue to live on in the love we show to others.

Thank you for your prayers. Please respect our privacy in this difficult time.

The Patrick Family"

Rest in peace Taleka

Crazy? Sexy? Cool?: The E Cigarette

                                   

Over the past year I have had several patients approach me on whether or not e-cigarettes would help them quit smoking. You may have already seen the popular glowing sticks in mall kiosks, internet ads, and your favorite restaurant. They even made an appearance at this years Golden Globe Awards(Julia Louis Dreyfus at Golden Globes).

 First introduced in China in 2004, the e cigarette has quickly emerged as a growing trend and cessation option for smokers. Currently a  two billion dollar industry, the metallic tubes contain nicotine infused cartridges which the user blows out as vapor. The benefit of the e cigarette is that it does not have the tar and carbon monoxide of tobacco, which has been linked to cancer and other morbidities.

                    

The cigarettes come in various nicotine levels, with the idea that smokers work their way down over time until they kick the habit. Despite their popularity, little is fully understood about the devices. Questions still not answered include long-term effects, second hand smoke dangers, and the potential for addiction. The Food And Drug Administration  plans on creating regulations on the cigarettes in the near future, but several cities have already taken matters into their hands; creating proposals/bans against their use in public places. One of the biggest concerns with e cigarettes is their effect on underage smoking. There has been an in increase in teenage use of e cigarettes, creating a concern that they may become the new gateway drug towards regular tobacco use and other substances.

Results of a recent study by the Center for Tobacco Control Research & Prevention at UCSF argued that e cigarettes may in fact not help smoking cessation. The study looked at 949 smokers in their attempt at quitting with 88 of the participants using e cigarettes while the rest used various others methods (cold turkey, patches,chewing gums). The researchers concluded that smokers who used e cigarettes were no more likely to quit smoking after one year compared to smokers who did not use them. The validity of the study however has been under fire secondary to the small sample size of those who used e cigarettes ad well as the methods of the study.

Adding more fuel to the fire, just last week, the Center for Disease Control released their own study indicating the rapid increase in nicotine poisoning from e cigarettes. There has been a steady rise in the number of calls to poison control centers across the nation from poisoning by ingesting of the liquid nicotine within the cartridges or absorbing through the skin. Adverse effects include nausea,vomiting,and eye irritation. Ingestion has been particularly high in children, most likely because of the candy and fruit flavors appealing to children.

I support anyone trying to kick the habit of smoking. As a physician my biggest concern is always the safety of a particular means and its efficacy. The verdict is still pending on how the FDA will regulate e cigarette use but we know they are here to stay. I would recommend their use only after someone is aware of the lack of long term evidence for their benefit and possible harm. One thing is for sure, tobacco use is a public health concern and if someone wants to be tobacco free, any means is far better than no means at all.