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| The scene at a recent sorting session. Clockwise, starting in the immediate left foreground, are Achelle LeBlanc, Sheila Ghosh, Michel Daoust, Keith Baglole, Martha Carmichael, 11-year old Joseph Lamey, Matt Kutcher, Aniket Hooda, Nicola Smith and Mohammad Afzal. |
The Medical Equipment Recovery Initiative (MERcI) at H漫画 Medical School has attracted such commitment from medical students here, they are now seeking to engage their counterparts across the country.
MERcI was established in 2008 at H漫画 by five Class of 2012 medical students: Rosie Ashton, Heather Poushay, Nicole Delaney, Sean Bennett, and Josh Gould, with support from Dr. Des Leddin, a H漫画 faculty member and physician in the Department of Medicine.
The organization sends medical items such as endoscopic disposables, catheters, bandages, gloves and wound dressings to developing countries.
鈥淗ospitals have to overstock. A certain percentage of stock expires and gets thrown out,鈥� says Dr. Leddin. 鈥淚t is, however, perfectly good and rather than disposing of it, we send it to centres in need. A single wire used in endoscopy procedures can cost $1,000, about three times the annual income in some countries. Theoretically it has an expiry date, but plastic and metal do not degrade quickly. It makes no sense to trash it one day, post expiry.鈥�
A tangible way to help
This initiative has raised some challenging dilemmas though. 鈥淥ne ethical problem we鈥檝e encountered is if it鈥檚 not good enough for Canadians, why is it good enough for them? Well, we are not telling the centres how to use it; we are just sending it. We are not paternalistic, and incidentally, I would have no problem with any of the equipment being used on myself.鈥�
Ms. Ashton, the past-president of the H漫画 Medical Students鈥� Society Global Health Initiative, was the first connector liaison when MERcI initially began. 鈥淚 was mainly inspired by Yale University鈥檚 REMEDY project and, of course, Dr. Leddin. Being in Bolivia, he recognized the medical needs that weren鈥檛 being met in those places. As a student, I can鈥檛 practise medicine and so this was a tangible way for me to help.鈥�
REMEDY, Recovered Medical Equipment for the Developing World, is a non-profit scheme promoting the recovery of surplus supplies for redistribution to developing countries.
MERcI did not only interest students and doctors. 鈥淭he ward aid, an employee of the hospital, was extremely receptive and helped out greatly in saving the equipment for us,鈥� saysMs. Ashton. 鈥淭hey see first-hand how much equipment, which is perfectly fine, gets thrown out.
She聽notes MERcI has also met with broad support from Capital Health, and in particular the Capital District Health Authority鈥檚 Vice President of Medicine, Brendan Carr M.D.
Committed
Current Global Health Liaison Achelle LeBlanc (Class of 2013), is also deeply involved in the project. 鈥淲e are now trying to establish a national MERcI, getting representatives at every medical school in Canada to become involved.鈥�
The University of Alberta and H漫画 were the first in Canada to establish the initiative. McMaster University and the University of Western Ontario have developed theirs independently. According to Ms. LeBlanc, 鈥淭he program is new and will continue to improve. It鈥檚 exciting to see it expanding to the other medical schools.鈥�
As the main supervisor, Dr. Leddin hopes to see MERcI become a national and international venture. 鈥淲e can already see this beginning to happen. The students have become extremely involved and their commitment will take this initiative a long way.鈥�
To date, the H漫画 medical students have sent approximately $200,000 worth of equipment to developing countries.聽