Eric Sauvageau

One Health Summer Institute: Class is in session

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Ohio State faculty arrive at Addis Ababa University’s Akaki campus. From left: Eric Sauvageau, MD, Andrew Shaw, MD, from the College of Medicine, Michael Bisesi, PhD, from the College of Public Health and Wondwossen Geybreyes, DVM, from the College of Veterinary Medicine.

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Dr. Bisesi lectures at the Akaki campus.

A student walks through Addis Ababa University Akaki campus on July 8, 2013.

A student walks through Addis Ababa University’s Akaki campus.

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Addis Ababa University students listen as Dr. Bisesi lectures.

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Dr. Gebreyes teaching class.

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Students listen during Dr. Gebreyes’ lecture on molecular epidemiology.

Photos by Rick Harrison, Ohio State University Communications

Images of Ohio State – Ethiopia hospital collaboration in neurosurgery

From left, Dr. Mersha, neurosurgery cheif, Dr. Ebenezer, Dr. Eric Sauvageau and Dr. Andrew Shaw enjoy coffee before making rounds at Tikur Anbessa (Black Lion) teaching medical center at Addis Ababa University.

From left, Tikur Anbessa’s Dr. Mersha, neurosurgery chief, and Dr. Ebenezer with Ohio State’s Dr. Eric Sauvageau and Dr. Andrew Shaw enjoy coffee before making rounds at Tikur Anbessa (Black Lion) teaching medical center at Addis Ababa University.

Eric Sauvageau, right, looks at a scan at Addis Ababa University hospital.

Eric Sauvageau, right, looks at a scan at Addis Ababa University hospital.

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Drs. Azarias Kassahun and Eric Sauvageau examine a patient with myelopathy, a spinal cord constriction.

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Signs reading “Good Luck” are posted all around the wards at the University of Gondar Hospital.

Photos by Rick Harrison, Ohio State University Communications

Learning from Ethiopia’s ‘MacGyver’ doctors

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From left, Tikur Anbessa’s Dr. Mersha, neurosurgery chief, and Dr. Ebenezer with Ohio State’s Dr. Eric Sauvageau and Dr. Andrew Shaw as they enjoy coffee before making rounds at Tikur Anbessa (Black Lion) teaching medical center at Addis Ababa University. (Photo by Rick Harrison, Ohio State University Communications)

By Andrew Shaw
 Clinical House Instructor at Wexner Medical Center, Ohio State

Since returning from Ethiopia I am filled with excitement. The people there are incredibly welcoming, warm, and giving. They invited us to see their patients, wards, and hospitals. The doctors there exhibit such passion for medicine, learning, and are always wanting a lecture.

Establishing a long term relationship with the Neurosurgery Department at Black Lion hospital will be mutually beneficial.

Upon our arrival, I believed we would be the teachers, but I often found myself on the learning end. The pathology they see is often advanced and requires much skill to treat.

You might recall the show MacGyver. As Wikipedia says, “Resourceful and possessed of an encyclopedic knowledge of the physical sciences, [MacGyver] solves complex problems with everyday materials he finds at hand, along with his ever-present duct tape and Swiss Army knife.”

Our Ethiopian partners are the “MacGyvers” of medicine doing amazing things with limited resources.

Data collection, shoulder dancing, and tailored suits

By Korbin Smith
Student, Ohio State College of Medicine
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

The initial data collection for the project has been finished.  Our group was unable to blog or access the internet over the last week due to traveling in small towns throughout Ethiopia that don’t have internet.  To catch up, we traveled from Gondar to Woreta where we conducted interviews before moving to Debre Tabor.  It is crazy how different the climate can change Imagehere with a 40 minute drive.  Woreta has a warm climate with temperatures probably averaging around 80 degrees.  A 40 minute drive to the highland in the mountains and Debre Tabor was probably around 55-60 degrees.

Luckily for me, this means I now have a cold.  I am beginning to think I have a weak immune system, as I am always the only one to get sick.  From Debre Tabor we met with Dr. Gebreyes, who brought a photographer and Dr. Sauvageau, a neurosurgeon from Ohio State. It was good to see others from Ohio.  We drove to Bahir Dar which is the city that borders Lake Tana, the biggest lake in Ethiopia.  Being a fishing connoisseur, it was very neat to see the traditional fishing methods.

We celebrated finishing the data by going to a traditional Ethiopian club in which we saw many styles of “shoulder dancing.”  I think I can dance better in Ethiopia than in the U.S.  As long as you can move your shoulders to the music you can be accepted as a dancer here.  People are less inclined to judge me on my overall lack of rhythm (or if they are judging me it is in Amharic and I can’t tell).

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Once we returned to Gondar I was happy to pick up the suit that I had ordered in the city aweek ago.  Since I am a rather tall, skinny, and lengthy individual, the suits already made did not fit me.  Dr. Tamiru, a partner we have been working with, took me to his tailor who agreed to make me a suit from the cloth of my choosing for 1,900 birr.  While that might seem like a lot in the U.S. that is equivalent to 100 USD.  This is extremely inexpensive for a customized tailored suit. The suit fits excellently.

In addition to completing the data collection, I have appreciated experiencing different aspects of the culture here in Ethiopia.