Helping Liberia

The West African nation of Liberia is currently dealing with deadliest outbreak of the Ebloa virus that the world has ever seen. With hundreds dead and thousands more impacted, Liberia and its neighboring countries are at the center of a serious health crisis that is proving extremely difficult to control. The images coming out of the area are troubling for everyone to see, but especially so for Michelle Niescierenko, MD. As director of Boston Children’s Hospital’s Global Health Program and the Academic Collaborative to Support Medical Education in Liberia, Niescierenko has spent years working with Liberian health care workers to strengthen the country’s medical education programs. Knowing her friends and colleagues in the area are now working frantically to contain the deadly disease, often without proper equipment and training, Niesciernko finds herself asking what many of us are thinking: “How can I help?” Developing a global perspective at an early age Prior to medical school, when Niescierenko was still in college, she traveled to Alaska to work with the First Nations people, researching the link between environmental contamination and health problems. She took to the work immediately, and the experience sparked a life-defining interest in how medicine and treatment are made available to people in underserved populations. It’s a passion that stayed with her throughout her training as a doctor and has been the driving force in her care...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: All posts Global Health Program Liberia Source Type: news