Michael P. Toppe first traveled to Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, West Africa, and says his experience there greatly influenced his decision to become a physician assistant
Physician-assistant student will treat patients in Africa
Jul 1, 2004
Portland Press Herald
Michael P. Toppe, a physician-assistant student at the University of New England, has received one of the first international grants from the national Physician Assistant Foundation to sponsor a clinical rotation in Zambia, Africa.
The grant is part of the foundation's newly established Global Outreach Program, which provides support to organizations or individuals that work to improve the quality of life in under- served areas of the United States or in developing countries by creating sustainable development in the areas of health care or health education.
The six-week rotation will take place in Lusaka, Zambia, at a clinic run by the non-profit organization Corpmed.
The clinic serves a patient base of 3,000 people, as well as members of the international diplomatic community.
Corpmed also provides free medical coverage to the Kasisi Orphanage and the Jon and Chilaga AIDS hospices.
Toppe first traveled to Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, West Africa, and says his experience there greatly influenced his decision to become a physician assistant.
"It was an amazing experience that I will always treasure," said Toppe. "The people in my village faced a very difficult and uncertain existence even without the intrusion of injury or disease into their lives. It was amazing to watch them eke out a living from the sands of the Sahel, and it was frustrating and sad when someone I knew died from a cause that would have been entirely preventable with the right medical care."
During his rotation, Toppe will work with the American, Zambian, and European physicians, who cover all aspects of family and emergency medicine, as well as obstetrics and gynecology. There is an emphasis on infectious disease medicine, due to the prevalence of malaria and parasites, and the clinic also collaborates with a larger network of non-governmental organizations addressing the medical needs of victims of the AIDS epidemic.
The $2,418 grant will be used to cover Toppe's travel, as well as needed medications, insurance, and living expenses.
"This rotation in Zambia will allow me the opportunity to return to Africa with skills I lacked during my first journey there and to be a provider to those who have such a great need of one," said Toppe.
Physician assistants are licensed health professionals who practice medicine as members of a team with their supervising physicians.
For more information about the PA Foundation, visit the organization's Web page, www.aapa.org/paf.
