Our latest program in Papua New Guinea (PNG) reimagined the way we deliver in-country training to healthcare professionals.
In November of last year, Interplast volunteers Dr Siddarth Karanth, Penny McMahon and Heidi Woods-Lehnen flew into PNG to meet local surgeon Dr Kaycii Amoko and physiotherapist Cathy Pius. Together they would form an elite education team that would travel across the country to deliver specialist training to healthcare staff.
By investing in the development and collaboration of local medical practitioners from across the country, we are building a sustainable pathway to better patient outcomes and more accessible services.
During this program, we:
- Trained 60 healthcare professionals
- Conducted 25 patient consults
- Provided 29 allied health treatments.
Dr Kaycii Amoko, Dr Siddarth Karanth, Penny McMahon and Cathy Pius with local hospital staff.
Increasing access to education
As travel costs continue to rise and we continuously look for ways to improve our programs, support from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) and our corporate partner PanAust enabled us to trial a new approach to training in-country.
The “Burns & Hands Roadshow” kicked off at Angau General Hospital in Lae. Surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and allied health staff were given a two-day crash course and the opportunity to observe and practice patient care. The team then moved on to the next hospital, Nonga Hospital in Rabaul and then Port Moresby General Hospital to repeat the course. Over 10 days, the team would travel over 1000 kilometres and train 60 healthcare professionals in hands and burns care — covering physiotherapy, wound management, multidisciplinary collaboration, surgical and nursing skills.
These short programs were received enthusiastically. “The nurses were like sponges — they were really absorbing the knowledge. Everything we gave them was kind of new to them,” Heidi reported. Access to training for nurses has been a challenge in Papua New Guinea, but their inclusion in these trainings is vital to strengthen collaboration across disciplines and improve patient outcomes. Improving teamwork across disciplines an essential component to this training, and something observed to be taken to heart by many of the participants.
Dr Karanth leads a demonstration on day two of training.
Engaging patients and providing hands on practice
The team spent two days with each cohort. On the first day, they provided practical learning opportunities by assessing facilities and working with patients in wards, before reinforcing their learning with lectures on the second day.
Nine-year-old Desmond was in the isolated burns room in Angau General Hospital when the Interplast team arrived. A month ago, he had fallen into a fire pit while playing with his friends and sustained injuries to his back, arm and leg. When the nearest health facility was too far to travel to, his parents decided to treat him at home, where his injuries unfortunately became infected.
While his infections had slowly been improving, his burns were developing into contractures that would restrict his mobility.
Nine-year-old Desmond during the Interplast visit to Lae in November 2024.
During the visit to Lae, Penny and Cathy were able to meet with Desmond and his family, and teach local physiotherapists how to bandage his injuries, conduct massages, construct splints and introduce appropriate positioning and exercises that would help him heal. Desmond and his mother were taught alongside the local team, so they could keep up care when he returned home.
Taking the training into clinics gave training participants the opportunity to learn in a relevant, practical environment, and engaged staff who were unable to attend the full training.
Acknowledgements
We thank staff and participants from Port Moresby General Hospital, Angau General Hospital in Lae and Nonga Hospital for their engagement and feedback. We’ll continue reviewing the challenges and benefits of this training model to inform our future programming in PNG and abroad.
We also extend our thanks to our incredible volunteers and partners in the Australian Government and PanAust for their support of and hard work on this program.
Interplast’s work would also not be possible without the donors who ensure that we can continue to deliver sustainable, effective projects that strengthen essential health services like burns care and physiotherapy in the Pacific and Asia. Donate today to help us change lives.
