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Interviewee: Dr. Katherine Grey; UBC Obstetrics and Gynaecology resident, PGY-2 | Authors/Editors: Romina Garcia de leon, Shayda Swann (Weblog Co-coordinators)
Printed: July fifth, 2024
Are you able to inform me about your analysis?
I’m a primary yr resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology (Ob/Gyn) on the College of British Columbia (UBC). I began doing world well being analysis inside the theme of ladies’s well being in my fourth yr of medical faculty. My analysis centered totally on fairness and care surrounding ladies’s well being in Rwanda.
I initially delved right into a undertaking centered round enhancing entry to cervical most cancers screening for ladies in Rwanda. Since then, my endeavors have expanded to numerous initiatives inside the realm of Ob/Gyn care in Rwanda. One noteworthy initiative I spearheaded was the optimization of cervical most cancers screening and accessibility in Rwanda by gaining insights from healthcare suppliers. My research, which concluded final yr, seemed on the practices of Ob/Gyns, nurse midwives, and household medical doctors concerning cervical most cancers screening, shedding mild on the challenges they encounter.
Moreover, I have been concerned in various analysis themes in Rwanda, together with an exploration of preterm untimely rupture of membranes and the prevailing pointers, evaluating them to Canadian requirements of care. I’ve additionally investigated operative vaginal deliveries in Rwanda, and my present focus lies on varied sides of cervical most cancers screening.
Are there any findings out of your analysis that you just’d like to spotlight?
From my research on healthcare supplier views, loads of the findings did align with comparable research in different low-resource settings. One outstanding theme that emerged is the numerous barrier posed by sufferers’ data and training ranges concerning cervical most cancers and screening. Many sufferers exhibit a restricted understanding of both the illness or the screening course of, which restricted their engagement with screening initiatives.
Moreover, the coaching of healthcare suppliers in conducting cervical most cancers screening emerged as one other influential consider accessing screening. A small subset of physicians and nurses obtain formal coaching on tips on how to conduct screening, resulting in a scarcity of proficient suppliers. This scarcity of educated professionals was constantly cited as a barrier to screening by each supplier interviewed in my research. General, the coaching panorama seems inconsistent, leading to notable gaps in screening and subsequent care provision.
How did you get entangled with this sort of work?
In my fourth yr of medical faculty, I knew that I wished to pursue Ob/Gyn and I’ve at all times been interested by world well being. I used to be related with my analysis supervisor, Dr. Marianne Vidler and bought concerned along with her work and the theme of world well being and maternity care in Rwanda. I’ve been and concerned ever since! I’m immensely grateful for the chance to proceed my residency at UBC, because it permits me to maintain my analysis endeavors alongside my distinctive group, each in Canada and Rwanda.
What influence do you hope to see with the work you’re doing?
My analysis is devoted to figuring out and understanding the boundaries hindering each sufferers from accessing care and suppliers from delivering it successfully. By comprehending these obstacles, we intention to take proactive steps in direction of enhancing screening accessibility. With a major deal with understanding these boundaries, my intention is to progress in direction of devising methods and implementing them successfully.
At present, my group and I are delving into the idea of self-collection for HPV testing in Rwanda. This methodology has gained prominence, significantly in British Columbia, primarily due to its heightened sensitivity in comparison with conventional Pap smears in cervical most cancers screening. Our analysis will contain integrating this extra delicate and environment friendly strategy, which permits people to self-collect samples, into Rwanda’s healthcare infrastructure.
Wanting forward, I hope that I can proceed engaged on the combination of HPV DNA testing and self-collection strategies in Rwanda. By doing so, I hope to make clear how these improvements can considerably improve entry to and charges of cervical most cancers screening within the area.
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