Since these resources are unlikely to be present in the countries most frequently visited by traveling students and residents, the responsibility must go to the home institution to both educate and provide support
to their traveling constituents. Yale-New Haven Hospital and Yale University School of Medicine have a long history of sending medical students and residents abroad to both affiliated institutions and independent rotations. Faculty members at Yale developed a program which includes predeparture orientation, access to support staff 7 days a week by telephone, and either a week or month’s supply of antiretroviral medications (zidovudine/lamivudine and nelfinavir), depending on the postal accessibility of the location. Orientation involves an overview of precautions, types of exposures that require Seliciclib datasheet medical treatment, and the importance of follow-up testing. If they have a blood or body fluid exposure, residents are instructed to call a phone number that is staffed 7 days a week to receive counseling, further education, and the rest of the 28-day regimen, which is sent to the field site via express mail.12 Partners in Health, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, also has an established www.selleckchem.com/hydroxysteroid-dehydrogenase-hsd.html protocol. After an exposure, both the source patient and exposed health care worker
are offered voluntary counseling and testing. Risk is assessed based on suspicion of HIV in the source, where the exposure occurred (surgery, phlebotomy, etc.), and the degree of exposure to the victim (mucosal, percutaneous, etc.). If there is a high degree of risk, both prophylaxis and baseline assessments are initiated. If the source 3-oxoacyl-(acyl-carrier-protein) reductase patient is determined to be HIV positive, therapy
is continued for 28 days, and HIV counseling and testing are repeated at 12 weeks and 6 months.13 Boston Medical Center and the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), in collaboration with the Maluti Hospital in Lesotho, developed guidelines for family medicine residents, pediatric residents, and medical students doing rotations in Lesotho. In addition to pretravel education on safety issues related to nosocomial exposure and guidelines for PEP, traveling health care workers are provided with a 4-week supply of tenofovir/emtricitabine, or zidovudine/lamivudine, and lopinavir/ritonavir. Prior to departure, residents and students are given the option to undergo screening for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, and tuberculosis. In the event of an exposure, the trainee is advised to immediately clean the exposed area with soap and water or a disinfectant, if available, and then to notify a supervisor and a BUSM faculty designate. The exposure is categorized based on the mode of injury, the exposure severity, and the serostatus of the source. Students/residents are provided with a cell phone for their rotation to ensure access to a home-based mentor.