October 4, 2020
We seek Rotary Districts interested to provide District Designated Funds (DDF) to support this project. Please contact info@rag4clubfoot.org for more information.
The Rotary Club of Iowa City A.M. (Iowa, USA) and the Rotary Club of Grand Bourge (Buenos Aires, Argentina) have collaborated to write a Global Grant to train orthopedists in the Ponseti Method. The request has been submitted to The Rotary Foundation and they await to hear their decision. A summary of the project is given below.
A Ponseti Method (PM) Training Seminar to take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its goal is to train pediatric surgeons to achieve the eradication of clubfoot in that country. It was at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) where Dr. Ponseti started and perfected the method that carries his name.
Argentina has a population of 44 million inhabitants and the number of new cases per year is estimated to be 1,000. The number of children and adults who live with clubfoot is not known.
There will be 7 (seven) pediatric surgeons from Argentina’s Pediatric State Hospitals. The seven hospitals the surgeons represent have committed to dedicate an office for the Ponseti Clinics (PC) where the surgeons will talk to parents of children born with clubfoot, treat patients, and keep a registry of the cases treated.
The Training Seminar will have an 8 (eight) months’ duration, and its Leader will be Dr. Jose Morcuende, PIA Director in Iowa City, Iowa, USA. The first part of the seminar will last 5 (five) days, during which Dr. Morcuende will inform about and teach the PM to the surgeons. During the second part, the pediatric surgeons will set up a Ponseti Clinic in each one of their hospitals, where they will talk to parents of children with clubfoot, treat the patients, and keep a record of the number of cases they treat. The pediatric surgeons will be invited to participate, every three months, in web seminars for Latin America, organized by the Ponseti International Association (PIA). During the third part, Dr. Morcuende will return to Argentina to check on the PC, to see the patients’ registries, and to answer questions the doctors may have.
The institutions that collaborate to organize this PM Seminar are: 1. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Rotary Club Grand Bourg, and Dr. Miguel Paz, Pediatric Surgeon, Malvinas Argentinas Pediatric Hospital; 2. In the USA, the PM International, Rotary International D6000, and the Rotary Club of Iowa City A.M.; Dr. Jose Morcuende, PM Director, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa, USA.
Written by Nenu Piragine, Rotarian of the Iowa City AM Club.