Lena Dohlman- Gerhart, MD, MPH is Recognized for Commitment to
Global Health
Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) is pleased to
announce that Lena Dohlman-Gerhart, MD, MPH is a recipient of the
second annual Golden Apple Award. As part of its World Health
Day observances, HVO created this award as a way of recognizing the
extraordinary educational contributions of volunteers to sites
abroad. Each volunteer honored with this award has demonstrated a
strong commitment to HVO’s educational mission by working on
curriculum development, teacher training, didactic or clinical
training, or the enhancement of educational resources.
Dr. Dohlman-Gerhart was selected
for this honor in recognition of work in designing and delivering
primary trauma courses as part of the HVO anesthesia program in
Vietnam. The trauma courses included practical workshops for
surgeons and anesthesiologists, the first of its kind to be held in
Vietnam. Dr. Dohlman-Gerhart has delivered these trauma courses
during four separate assignments to Vietnam. She also lectured on
regional anesthesia at the 14th Association of South-East
Asian Nations Congress of Anesthesiologists in Hanoi, Vietnam. Her
commitment to the Vietnam site has resulted in better medical
outcomes for local anesthesiologists and colleagues, all of whom
have benefited from her lectures, training courses and practical
handouts on regional anesthesia techniques. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Chung,
the on-site coordinator of the program who nominated Dr.
Dohlman-Gerhart stated, “Dr. Dohlman-Gerhart’s devotion and
perseverance has changed the way we train our successors, their
skills have greatly improved.”
Dr. Dohlman-Gerhart is on staff at the
Department of Anesthesia & Critical Care at Massachusetts General
Hospital and the Cambridge Health Alliance. She is a member of the
Massachusetts Society for Anesthesiologists, the American Society of
Anesthesiologists, the American Society of Regional Anesthesia &
Pain Medicine, Physicians for Human Rights, and the Society for
Education in Anesthesia. In addition to her volunteer work at HVO,
she works with Harvard medical students in the Oliver Wendell Holmes
Society where she is a Senior Fellow, and she teaches a course at
the Harvard Center for Medical Simulation. Dr. Dohlman-Gerhart has
been a member of HVO for the last 20 years and has served as the
chair of the anesthesia program area since 1997.
According to recent reports, the
global shortage of health care workers is estimated to be 4.3
million. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, MD commented on the
health care shortage stating, “The simple fact is that the world
needs many more health workers. The world faces global as well as
local threats to health. Infectious diseases have staged a dramatic
comeback, and chronic diseases are on the rise. We cannot improve
people’s health without staff to deliver health care.”
“I am delighted that Dr.
Dohlman-Gerhart’s contributions to Vietnam are being recognized with
this award,” said Nancy Kelly, HVO Executive Director. “By
highlighting the accomplishments of volunteers like Dr.
Dohlman-Gerhart, we hope to raise awareness of global health issues
and of the role that individuals can have in making a difference.”
A private, non-profit membership organization,
HVO was founded in 1986 to improve global health through education.
HVO designs and implements clinical education programs in child
health, primary care, trauma and rehabilitation, essential surgical
care, oral health, infectious disease, nursing education, burn
management and wound care. In more than 25 resource-poor nations,
volunteers train, mentor and provide critical professional support
to health care providers who care for the neediest populations in
the most difficult of circumstances.
World Health Day is celebrated annually by the
World Health Organization and the international community. Since
1950, it has been held each year on April 7th and focuses
on a relevant global health issue. This year’s theme is “Health and
Security: Outbreaks and Crisis.” For more information about World
Health Day 2007, visit the WHO web site (http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2007/en/index.html).
