Ponseti Method Training Activities begin in Argentina
March 26, 2022
Training for the treatment of clubfoot with the Ponseti Method was held in Buenos Aires on March 21 – 25, 2022. A very productive and high-quality experience due to the excellence of the trainers, Dr. Mónica Nogueira and Dr. José Morcuende. There are 8 participants, from 8 public hospitals in the country. The course consists of theoretical content with talks, practice with manual work and plaster training, discussion of cases and patients in hospitals. Participants are very happy to be able to carry out this experience.
Submitted by
Dr. Miguel J.M. Paz
Jefe del Servicio de Ortopedia y Traumatología Infantil
Hospital Universitario Austral
Ponseti Method Training activities begin in Argentina.
Ponseti Method Training for the Treatment of Clubfoot in Ecuador (developing project)
January 30, 2022
Members of Rotary Club of St. Helena (CA, D5130) and Rotary Club of Quito Equinoccio (Ecuador, D4400) are in initial discussions and communication to partner to create a two-year Ponseti Method training grant in Ecuador. It is estimated 440 babies are born with clubfoot each year. The developing project would provide comprehensive Ponseti Method training of 12 orthopaedic surgeons and the establishment of 12 Ponseti Method Reference Clinics. Three experienced PM trainers will serve as instructors and mentors. Additional partner organizations include: Ponseti International Association Latin America (PIA/LA); and orthopaedic societies – SCCOT, SLAOTI, SEOT (Ecuador Orthopaedic Society).
Ponseti Method Training in Colombia
January 27, 2022
Rotary Action Group for Clubfoot Ponseti Training Support with supporters identified
January 13, 2022
Rotary Action Group for Clubfoot Ponseti Training Support – V2 – 2022.01.13
Rotary funded projects.
Rotary changing lives of children born with clubfoot
August 15, 2021
Rotary Action Group for Clubfoot Activities
In the seven years since formation of the Rotary Action Group for Clubfoot, our organization has supported six training projects to advance the skills of orthopedic surgeons in Latin America and the Caribbean in the Ponseti Method for treatment of clubfoot. The Rotary Foundation approved vocational training team global grants to fund five of the training projects. The sixth project involved a small number of physicians and was funded with other Rotary support since its budget was not large enough to qualify for a global grant.
An Action Group goal is to have enough orthopedic surgeons trained in the Ponseti Method in every country so that every child born with clubfoot can have their feet straightened shortly after birth. Statistically, clubfoot afflicts one child in each 750 births so the numbers of physicians needing to be trained is readily calculated with demographic data.
The Action Group has made significant progress toward the goal in the six countries where trainings have been accomplished or are in progress. As the table shows, grants exceeding $525,000 have financed fundamental training and mentorship for 152 physicians. Additionally, the grants have provided for advanced training in the practice and teaching of the Ponseti Method for 30 physicians who already had experience with the method.
Since Rotary clubs coordinate training activities and volunteer professionals provide much of the instruction and mentoring, the costs of our Action Group’s projects are moderated.
The effectiveness of the training approach was confirmed by Dr. Astrid Medina Cañon and Dr. Amparo Buendía Hernández, both members of the Rotary Club of Bogotá Centenario. Dr. Cañon was one of the principal trainers for the Colombia project and Dr. Hernández was the primary contact for the grant. In the report to The Rotary Foundation they wrote, “The trained orthopedists had very flattering words since none of them had had a teaching ‘hands on’ with respect to the Ponseti Method. They also congratulated the team and thanked Rotary for providing the tools to carry out this course. Having enough time to learn something new and do it first on plastic models and then on patients was invaluable.”
Submitted by Brock Earnhardt
D6000 Global Grants Action Team, Chair
Rotary Action Group for Clubfoot Ponseti Training Support – 2021.09.30
Colombian team share a video of their successful project
July 14, 2021
Colombian Ponseti Method Training (GG1860348) – completed
July 11, 2021
The Colombian Ponseti Method training global grant was a success with 28 orthopedists receiving training in Ponseti Method to expand their skills to treat children born with clubfoot. The Ponseti Method training was provided by professionals from PIA International (Ponseti International Association) and with the support of the Rotary Action Group for Clubfoot (RAG4Clubfoot).
The newly trained orthopedists returned to their professional work in public and private hospitals in 15 cities distributed throughout the Colombian geography, and their two Rotary Districts 4281 and 4271.
As a real result, up to the date of this report, nine -9- Clinicas Ponseti have been established in Colombia. They are in the cities of Bogotá D.C., Ibagué, Cali, Medellin and Cucuta. Joint work with public and private entities that provide health services in Colombia, to implement a Comprehensive Care for children, which includes all their treatment.
Grant objectives met:
- New Ponseti clubfoot treatment clinics were created in healthcare institutions, presenting financial models to help their sustainability.
- Adoption of the Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Clubfoot, with the Ponseti Method, so that they became part of the institutional documentation.
- Direct communication channels with the community and especially with the parents of the beneficiary children. Emphasis was placed on this communication being reliable, friendly, and up-to-date.
- Knowledge and expertise in what orthodeists learned through Virtual Seminars and their participation in Congresses of Pediatric Orthopedists and also in conferences of Pediatricians and General Physicians was encouraged.
Development of brace bank
A result of the numerous meetings between Rotarians and the newly trained health professionals, was the need to create a brace bank. The braces are essential orthopedic element to maintain the foot correction. A mutual agreement between Dr. Astrid Medina, pedatric orthopaedic physician, a local Rotary club and the Colombian Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (SCCOT) to receive and take charge of the administration and distribution of 1,150 braces purchased from Clubfoot Solutions in Iowa, USA. The advantage of the brace bank is that the braces can be returned to the bank after use, then they can be reused by future patients, benefitting a greater number of children and for a longer time.
Increased communication channels
An email account has been established through email: pieequinovarorotarycolombia @ gmail.com and on social networks: Instagram: @ ponseti.colombia.oficial and Facebook: Asociacion Ponseti Colombia. congenital clubfoot). The website is also under creation: https://www.ponseticolombia.org
Ponseti Method Training in Argentina Global Grant approved by The Rotary Foundation
March 28, 2021
The Rotary Club of Iowa City A.M. (Iowa, USA) and the Rotary Club of Grant Bourge (Buenos Aires, Argentina) have collaborated to write a Global Grant with the purpose to train orthopedists in the Ponseti Method. The request has been approved by The Rotary Foundation.
A Ponseti Method Training Seminar is to take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina later this year. Its goal is to train 7 (seven) pediatric surgeons from Argentina’s Pediatric State Hospitals to achieve the eradication of clubfoot in this country. The seven hospitals the surgeons represent have committed to dedicate an office for the Ponseti Clinics where the orthopedists will talk to parents of children born with clubfoot, treat patients, and keep a registry of the cases treated.
Argentina has a population of 44 million inhabitants and the number of babies born with clubfoot per year is estimated to be 1,000.
The grant hosts are the Rotary Club of Iowa City A.M. (Iowa, USA) and the Rotary Club of Grand Bourge (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Additional funders are the Rotary Club of Cedar Rapids Downtown Club (Iowa, USA) and individual Rotarians.
If your district/club is interested in contributing financially to a future Ponseti Method training, please contact us at info@rag4clubfoot.org
Children’s Book Promotes Awareness of Clubfoot
January 4, 2021
Children’s Book Promotes Awareness of Clubfoot in Elementary Schools
Colombia Global Grant Report submitted- Ponseti Method Training for the Treatment of Clubfoot in Colombia
October 4, 2020
The first report to The Rotary Foundation for this project has been accepted. All the initial training sessions were completed and everything went extremely smoothly. The last training session (the sixth one) was completed late in January 2020. Yet to be seen is how the Covid-19 pandemic will affect the timing of follow-up visits to trainees.
Many thanks to the clubs and districts who are supporting this Global Grant project:
District 6960 (Florida, USA)
RC of Bogotá Centenario (D4281)
RC of Cedar Rapids Downtown (D5970)
RC of Ibagué (D4281)
RC of Iowa City AM (D6000)
RC of Marco Island Noontime (D6960)
RC of Vail (D5470)
Iowa’s Gift to the World
What was the overall impact of the training on the community? Include specific results of the training or explain how it has improved the community’s capacity in this vocation.
The directors of hospitals and insurance companies learned about the Ponseti Method as a safe method, of low cost and efficient for clubfoot management. Hospital directors recognized the advantages for the patient and his family, and the reduction in costs for making the correction in a more fast. They realized the importance of creating Ponseti clinics, that means order, discipline and efficiency in the teaching parents and caregivers of children. Thanks to the visit of Dr. Morcuende to the Presidency of the Republic, the work that is being done in Colombia with children with clubfoot. The trained orthopedists had very flattering words as none of them had had a teaching ¨hands on¨ regarding the Ponseti Method. They also congratulated the team and thanked Rotary for providing the tools to carry out this course. Having enough time to learn something new and carrying it out first on plastic models and then on patients was very valuable.
Some phrases from the participants:
“It was a unique experience.”
“It completely changed the way I treat patients with clubfoot.”
“I realized the mistakes I was making with my patients.”
“I want to quickly get to my hospital to change things to make them better now.”
Comments from parents:
So far I really understand the Ponseti Method. ¨I want my son to be well, I am going to do my best to make this happen.”
“Now I know when the splint is wrong.”
“I liked meeting other parents and other children with the same problem as mine.”
