California School of Podiatric Medicine rotation with the Uganda Sustainable Clubfoot Care Project

The Uganda Poverty Eradication Plan has stated that disability is a frequent cited cause of poverty in Uganda. In response, the Uganda Ministry of Health has approved the free administration of the Ponsetti Method, a serial casting technique standard for clubfoot treatment, for treatment of congenital clubfoot through 2010. Medical students and orthopedic surgeons are few of the practitioners being educated in this effort to provide treatment of congenital clubfoot. In response, the Uganda Sustainable Clubfoot Care Project (USCCP), a partnership between University of British Columbia and Makerere University, was created. USCCP is publishing an ethno-cultural survey on perceptions associated with clubfoot, developing awareness programs, and holding workshops.

The Canadian Project Director of the USCCP has invited students from the California School of Podiatric Medicine (CSPM) to train with the program at Makerere University. This collaborative opportunity would be a beneficial experience to podiatric medical students who will have the opportunity to rotate through this clinic until 2010, at which time the Canadian International Development Agency funding for the USCCP ends. Rotating students will train with orthopedic assistants and surgeons in the application and surgical procedures of the Ponsetti method.

The students will observe how environmental, political, and socioeconomic issues affect the health of a population, learn epidemiologic principles important in evaluating the health of a community, compare and contrast health care delivery systems in the US with that of developing countries, and will help develop in students a better understanding of challenges of intercultural medical research and partnerships.