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First GO CME course in Palestine

Medical professionals and last year students from Palestine and the Gaza Strip headed to Ramallah in October 2010 for the first ISN Continuous Medical Education (CME) course organized with the Al-Quds University Medical School, Palestine.

Past ISN GO Program Chair William Couser, British nephrologist Richard Banks and past  ISN GO CME Program Chair Norbert Lameire brought their expertise to make this course a valuable educational opportunity. Great credit for the success of this event goes to ISN-GO Middle East Committee Chair Riyad Said and Norbert Lameire who worked together for a year to make this a reality.

The program focused on glomerular disease, nephrotic syndrome, vasculitis, screening for CKD, acute kidney injury and hypertension. The audience was particularly responsive to case study discussions on hyponatremia and metabolic acidosis.

Breaks between sessions provided networking opportunities and a chance to discuss the challenges faced by nephrologists in this region. ISN delegates also talked about the importance of developing more dialysis units in Palestine and Gaza.

ISN GO CME team heads to Africa

A lack of resources for renal replacement therapy and the ongoing “brain drain” of physicians means kidney care can be underdeveloped in Africa. ISN headed to Africa to make several site visits and give Continuous Medical Education (CME) courses across Ethiopia and Cameroon.

A very encouraging aspect of this trip was seeing leaders in nephrology emerge from the ISN Fellowship Program.

“We can now point to new clinical renal programs directed by former ISN fellows that were not there 5 years ago. This really documents the value of what we (and our predecessors) have done in Africa and other emerging nations,” says past ISN Global Outreach (GO) Program Chair William Couser.

ISN delegates met with some 200 physicians and provided current management approaches to common renal problems that were suited to their regions and resources. The trip was also a chance to meet with Ministers of Health in these regions, and to encourage the support both countries have already given to early detection and prevention programs for kidney disease.

“Visiting Ethiopia and Cameroon successfully revealed much progress over the past few years as far as knowledge, skills and patient care are concerned,” adds past ISN GO CME Program Chair Norbert Lameire.