Danny Bui, MD
Clinical Anesthesia Year 3
Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University
Danny Bui is graduating from residency in 2 weeks with the formal ceremony happening tomorrow! After graduation, he will be staying at Rhode Island Hospital as a full time attending! He is looking forward to giving back to his own residency program and working alongside friends and mentors he has developed in the past 3 years. In this post, Danny reflects on an international experience with his co-resident, Deeran Patel, and attending Anesthesiologist, Shyamal Asher. Experiencing your profession in a different culture and environment gives a much broader meaning to mastering your craft. While three anesthesia providers from Rhode Island Hospital had much to give from their experiences, they also had much to learn from the locals of Kigali, Rwanda.
The land of a thousand hills... My global health elective in Kigali, Rwanda is an experience that I still think about daily two months later. Prior to arriving in Kigali, I was getting increasingly nervous. Would they be receptive to these outsiders, or would we be resigned to quietly watching from a corner? Little did I know that we would make friends that we continue to keep in touch with today.
We spent an afternoon in the ICU using POCUS. I was so impressed with the Anesthesiology residents at the University of Kigali. While they rarely had opportunities to use ultrasound, they obtained perfect transthoracic views without guidance. Together, we used what we found to diagnose multiple complex patients and put a plan into place.
One of my favorite parts about teaching is working with those who are excited about learning. Our junior residents asked us if we could hold evening lectures, which we ended up doing daily during our stay. We also participated in senior lectures on Mondays and junior lectures on Fridays. Their curriculum gives them a very strong knowledge base.
Everyone we met in Kigali was so welcoming and appreciative. However, as much as they learned from us, we learned just as much from them. I am excited about what the future holds for the global health program at Brown Anesthesia. I look forward to returning to the land of a thousand hills.
