The Health Frontiers Laos project, active since 1991, is aimed at helping to strengthen post-graduate medical training at the Laos University of Health Sciences.

HF volunteers have helped the Lao faculty to launch intensive three-year residency training programs in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, the first continuous postgraduate medical education programs in the history of the country. The curricula are based on specific Lao health needs, and are consistent with international standards.

The Pediatric Residency Program, started in 1997, has graduated over 50 Lao pediatricians, and has 18 more in training. For a country like Laos with three million children, and previously only seven fully trained pediatricians, the ability to add six new pediatricians a year has huge health implications.

The Internal Medicine program, started in 2002, has graduated over 30 internists. These physicians will be able to address the growing burden of chronic disease present in an aging population. Collaboration with Khon Kaen University and the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia has also led to the first fellowship training opportunities for graduates of the Pediatric and Internal Medicine training programs.

HF has taken a leading role in developing Continuing Medical Education for Lao physicians, by supporting annual academic conferences held in Laos, as well as facilitating CME opportunities for Lao physicians in other countries.

Most recently, Health Frontiers is supporting the development of mental health training and capacity-building for primary health practitioners. Currently there is a dire shortage of mental health professionals in Laos, and no formal training program for physicians.

The major HF resource supporting these activities is the donated time of the volunteer faculty. Our current team in Laos includes pediatrician Emily Esmaili, serving as HF Field Representative and coordinator of both residency programs. Pediatrician Leila Srour and administrator/IT engineer Bryan Watt continue to run the Muang Sing Outreach program in northern Laos, now in their tenth year of volunteering with HF. The project is supported in the US by volunteer Project Director Melanie Anspacher, a pediatrician based in Washington, DC, and Internal Medicine coordinator Rosemary Quirk and IM-Peds volunteer Jon White, based in the Twin Cities. Other volunteers, from North American and Australian centers and Khon Kaen University in Thailand, make short term teaching visits to Laos.

Cash funding for the project comes mainly from individual contributions, however the Laos project has also received generous funding from the WHO, Mines Mineral Group (MMC), and the Tom Dooley Heritage Fund. Khon Kaen University provides more than 36 tuition-free training rotations per year for the Lao residents. Generous contributions of books and supplies have been made by individual volunteers as well as various organizations. Direct Relief International has donated thousands of dollars in medical supplies and equipment for residents including oto-ophthalmoscopes, stethoscopes, and textbooks.