Shaping the future
An Edmonton surgical resident has been inspired to create innovations that improve health care around the world.
Dr. Saleh and his ICChange team have spearheaded seven different development projects on three different continents.
We set out to do things that others weren’t doing and create new, entrepreneurial models.
VIDEOWatch this interview with Dr. Saleh to learn more about this project. |
At an age when many young people are still figuring out what they want to do, Dr. Abdullah Saleh has already left his mark in countries around the world.
The third-year surgical resident, who just recently turned 29, splits his time between his medical duties and his social activism as the founder and driving force behind the Edmonton-based development agency Canadians for Change (ICChange).
“I’ve always been interested in development work, first in South America and then just before I got into medical school I worked on developing a new water filtration system using clay pots,” explains Saleh.
To date, Saleh and his ICChange team have spearheaded seven different development projects on three different continents. “We set out to do things that others weren’t doing and create new, entrepreneurial models.” Most recently he’s been leading the development of an electronic medical record system for Kibera, the largest slum in Africa, which is located in Nairobi, Kenya.
Saleh and his team realized there was a lot of duplication and competition between Kibera’s privately run clinics, but there was no system for sharing information. “We proposed networking all the clinics together using electronic medical records, which will improve patient care and give a financial incentive for clinics to collaborate on care.”
In February 2012, the Kibera Medical Records Initiative received a $100,000 grant from Grand Challenges Canada to continue its development. “This information can also give us valuable insight into health mapping, so we can track and respond to health issues.”
