Our guest appearance & long journey home

Ghana Association of Nurse Anesthetists Annual Congress.

Published September 27, 2014, last updated on October 5, 2017 under Voices of DGHI

Lauren Hess, Lydia VanWormer & Adam Smith
Bass Connections

We were up with the sun and headed to Tamale airport for our early flight to Accra. After landing safely in Accra, we went straight to Tema to attend the Ghana Association of Nurse Anesthetists (GANA) Annual Congress. Our group was very honored to attend. We were invited to sit on a panel, answering questions surrounding the new, distance-based education endeavor. Dr. Morgan introduced the program and initiative to the CRNA attendees from around the country, some of which were students in the program itself. The returning members of our Duke team, Dr. Morgan, Adam Flowe and Dr. Olufolabi were all well known and enthusiastically welcomed by many of the Ghanaian providers. Their years of partnership were apparent and inspiring to us as students. It is very apparent that the Ghanaian anesthetists have a strong desire to advance not only their formal anesthesia education, but also their profession as a whole. We left encouraged by our Ghanaian colleagues, who are working together to advance the profession and improve patient care.

After the conference, we made a few final pit stops to fill the remaining space in our bags with souvenirs. Brightly colored, local fabric, wooden carvings and Ghanaian produced cocoa and liqueur were among the favorites of the day. Once our bags were stuffed to the brim, we headed for the airport and the final leg our journey home.

As we wait for our flight back to the states, we as students will forever be impacted by this experience. The leadership of our team and the initiative of this program are not only inspiring, but also speak volumes to us about the commitment of advancing our profession.

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