Family Medicine

Residency Training Program

Some of the most difficult challenges in the arena of global health center on issues surrounding workforce. Haiti is a prime example of these challenges. Many graduates of Haiti’s medical schools leave and never return – a problem referred to as the “brain drain.” Those that do remain in the country strive for specialty practices in the capital of Port-au-Prince. Thus, there are very few physicians prepared for and willing to practice in the countryside, were 85% of Haitians live.

To address these problems, Dr. Arthur Fournier and Dr. Michel Dodard conceived and implemented a family medicine residency training program for Haitian doctors. The program was initially funded for six years by the Open Society Institute and is now funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control.

Cap Haitian

Based at Justinian Hospital in Cap Haitian, residents and faculty now care for 50,000 patients in the city and surrounding countryside. In addition to the direct services to these patients they also learn the broad general skills required to treat the majority of problems faced by Haitian patients and to lead teams of nurses and community health workers in a cost-effective manner. This program is the first ever family medicine residency program to be established in a resource poor setting.

Results

In 2019, we funded an expansion of the faculty to better address maternal and child health and there are now over 70 graduates working in the country.