IVHQ Ghana: Medical volunteer program

In May 2023, I participated in the IVHQ Ghana Medical program for two weeks, which proved to be a wonderful, dense, and eye-opening experience. As a physician from Japan, I joined a team that included two experienced registered nurses from the US. Here, I share some basic information about the program and offer some tips to help future participants prepare and make the most of their experience.

Basic information:

You will be assigned to either the gold or purple program, which refers to the accommodation you will be sharing with other participants, such as childcare volunteers. The program types may vary. I was assigned to the purple program, which was located in a small town called Frankadua, about three hours away from Accra by car.

Accommodation at Frankadua

Supplies to bring

Wound care is likely the most common activity, regardless of your assignment. Typically, wounds are on the legs or feet. While there were some leftover supplies from previous volunteers at the accommodation, I strongly recommend bringing your own. For wound care outreach, you will need to bring what you would use by yourself. Clinics also treat patients with wounds and are suffering from severe supply shortages.
Be mindful that patients are typically malnourished, especially for vitamins, as vegetables are expensive in Ghana, and their feet are constantly covered in sand and dust as they only have sandals, not shoes. Ghana is extremely hot all the time, and sealing could be a problem. Once we tried using drapes to cover gauge, but it created fragility on the skin, so I would not recommend it. Here is a list of what you would need:

You will take motorbike to go medical outreach.

For wound care

1. 4 x 4 gauge

2. Non-adhesive gauge or Vaseline gauge

3. Gauge wrap (clinics are at severe shortage on this!)

4. Coban (we ran out of this while we were there.)

5. Skin-prep

6. Packing strips

7. Saline bottles

8. Any antibiotic cream, or medicine to cure wounds (my peer volunteers from the US told me they used honey for long-term care for wounds. If you believe so, have them with you.)

9. disinfectant solution (The same peers left a recipe for dakin solution that they used in the US.)

10. Lidocaine gel/solution (in severe short supply. Clinics do not use Lidocaine for debriedment and suture!! Please have extra so that you can share them with clinics.)

11. Tools for debriedment (there are some scissors and twizers at the accommodation, but better to have something you feel comfortable to use.)

12. Ibuprofen and vitamins (you need a bulk of ibuprofen. Also it would be better to have good grades of vitamin pills, as they typically do not have good access to vegetables.)

13. Anything you think would be great for wound care.

14. Any types of oral medicine, especially antibiotics are potentially helpful.

15. Notebooks and markers/pens (Making a record for the patients is helpful)

Others

Below supplies are not frequently used or something the accommodation has plenty of stock, but may be a good idea to have some if you could -

1. Sutures - you may have a chance to do sutures at clinic or at medical outreach.

2. Brades - useful for debriedment or possibly drainage. We had one patient with skin abscess, but we didn’t have enough supplies to drainages.

3. Gloves, alcohol wipes, tapes, hand sanitizer, Iodines, etc. - these are something I found plenty of stock available at the accommodation, at least while I was there.

I hope this helps! I am sure you will have an eye-opening experience there. Good luck!!

View from Atimpoke clinic