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Kybele has developed an educational model to quickly implement sustainable interventions at a minimal cost. Our programs are designed to be culturally sensitive and county specific. Our aim is to improve country wide standards, not just conditions within isolated hospitals. With our hosts, we develop evidence-based, medical guidelines for better patient care with consideration of the local infrastructure and culture. Our model utilizes:
• International diversity – Kybele volunteers have come from the US, Canada, UK, Europe, and Australia. Kybele doctors and nurses pay their own travel expenses and donate their time and expertise toward the cause.
The Ghana Team, 2006
• Multidisciplinary teamwork – We have anesthesiologists, obstetricians, nurses, midwifes, neonatologists and internists working together and committed to improving childbirth safety. We model multidisciplinary teamwork and compassion during the actual care of patients in labor wards and in the operating room.
• On-site training – We break into pairs and spread out to work in hospitals across each country. We work alongside doctors and nurses within their home hospitals for 1-2 weeks. We focus on teaching; in the classroom, at the bedside and hands-on with the implementation of new techniques. One Kybele team member can teach up to 10 doctors or nurses within each hospital.
• Cost efficiency – We work within a country’s existing infrastructure of medications and supplies. The host hospitals also bear some of the program costs. This makes us unique and helps keep the average total cost of each national program less than $35,000. We estimate that it takes only $100 to train each doctor or nurse.
• Leadership development – We identify and build healthcare leaders within a country and include these individuals in outreach to other countries. The teachers we train continue to teach others in their countries once we've gone. Kybele also sponsors physicians and nurses from abroad to visit US and European hospitals to observe childbirth practices. These interactions have led to deepening relationships between academic institutions worldwide. Kybele maintains collaboration with host countries and is committed to advancing medical education, patient care and ethical research.
The Kybele healthcare team shares knowledge, builds relationships and cultural understanding worldwide.
 
Teaching in Ghana
Program Development
One might wonder how a Kybele program originates. First, an invitation is submitted by a physician from a prospective country. A site visit is arranged and 1-3 Kybele team members travel to the country to conduct an initial needs assessment. The small convoy travels with the host physician to observe the conditions and medical practices that exist within several hospitals. Enthusiasm and friendship grows along the way.
Then, a project is designed with the host physician to fit the specific needs of the country. The host physician networks with other colleagues and the hospital sites are selected. We focus on countries with established medical schools and training programs. This approach is cost-efficient and promotes country-wide change because the resident doctors we train are integrated into a national employment pool upon graduation. Physicians in training also learn quickly and are eager to perform new techniques. The countries selected must also have an adequate health care infrastructure of supplies. We do not wish to provide a continuous supply of equipment and medications, but would rather focus on education to better use the supplies already possessed. This approach may limit projects in some of the poorest countries with the highest mortalities but unless a country has an established healthcare infrastructure it is unlikely that improvements can be sustained.
An important element for program success is to identify physicians that can be change agents within their countries. We assist these physicians in designing research surveys to learn more about medical practices in their countries. We then sponsor these doctors to attend an international medical meeting to present their findings. This elevates the level of science and educates a broader group of physicians as to conditions within a particular country. Our sponsored doctor also has the opportunity to network outside his or her own country to meet medical practicioners with shared interests. We then host our doctor to visit 2 US or European hospitals to observe and learn differences in medical practice. They stay within our homes with our families, to keep costs minimal, and to build a more dynamic friendship and degree of cultural understanding.
During this time, the team trip is designed and conducted aproximately 12 months following the site visit. Team members are recruited from different backgrounds based on the needs of each country. The Kybele team is comprised of 12-16 individuals. When required, we obtain temporary medical or nursing licenses to legally work in our target country. An orientation packet is sent out aproximately 3 months before travel outlining the specifics of travel, immunizations, etc...All of our programs have conducted high quality, interactive 1-2 day medical symposiums where continuing medical education credit (CME) has been given for host country participants. This has also become an excellent forum for Kybele volunteers to lecture at the international level. Kybele team trips typically last 10-14 days and include cultural excursions arranged by the local planning committees.
Following a Kybele trip, team members are expected to write a brief report to share with the team. We encourage team members to present their experiences to civic groups or at medical lectures, such as grand rounds. For host hospitals, follow-up surveys are conducted 6-12 months following the trip to determine satisfaction and to assess the degree of change in medical practice. These findings are then presented at international conferences.
Kybele maintains collaboration with host countries and is committed to advancing medical education, patient care and ethical research. The Kybele healthcare team shares knowledge, builds relationships and cultural understanding. Kybele is contagious...those that have been involved, stay involved. Our interactions lead to deepening relationships between medical practicioners and academic institutions worldwide.
If you are interested in a Kybele program, please contact us at: info@kybeleworldwide.org
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