Every year, Penn Medicine sends multiple faculty members and residents to Botswana as part of the Botswana-UPenn Partnership Rehabilitation Program. The program’s goal is to help clinicians in Botswana establish a residency elective program in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R).
As a PM&R physician, Franklin Caldera, DO, recently had the opportunity to participate in the program. Dr. Caldera serves as Chief Medical Officer of Penn Medicine Rehabilitation, an inpatient rehabilitation unit of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. GSPP Rehabilitation, a joint venture between Penn Medicine and Good Shepherd Rehabilitation, manages the inpatient rehabilitation unit located at 1800 Lombard Street in Philadelphia.
The trip was a life-changing experience for Dr. Caldera.
“Going into a program like this, you have your agenda and trip details, but you don’t really know what to expect,” said Dr. Caldera of his two-week stay there. “Instinctively, I knew that they would have less resources than we do, but this was a great opportunity to help expand their rehabilitation offerings through the residency program.”
Dr. Caldera spent one week at the Princess Marina Hospital and then one week at the Mahalapye District Hospital. During his visits, he met with other physicians and outpatient therapists to discuss what a physical medicine and rehabilitation residency program could look like.
He also had the opportunity to speak with students and participated in lectures.
“In watching and interacting with rehabilitation medicine in Botswana, what really impressed me was how well they provided care given the resources they have available to them,” he said.
He noted staffing is definitely one of those resources.
“The Princess Marina Hospital, for example has a team of two physicians, two nurses, a medical assistant and one occupational therapist for their Orthopedic and Spinal Cord Injury Unit,” he said. “There are just six physical, occupational and speech therapists to cover the entire 530-bed hospital. They can do what they need to do for the patient; it might just take them a little longer than it does here.”
Dr. Caldera said he hopes to return to Botswana soon.
“It really was an amazing opportunity to see how things are done and help expand their rehabilitation offerings through this residency program,” he said.