Katrine Lofberg

Oregon Health Sciences University, Dept. of Surgery

Katrine’s interest in both medicine and working with underserved populations began in high school while volunteering in an Athabascan village in Minto, Alaska. In college, she spent six months in Bodh Gaya, India studying Buddhism. Although most days were spent in a monastery, evenings and weekends out in the community provided ample opportunity to witness how lack of medical care affects not only the patient, but also the community as a whole, and further galvanized her interest in Global Health. While in medical school at the University of Washington, Katrine received a grant from the Puget Sound Partners for Global Health and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to conduct research on the barriers to anti-retroviral adherence in HIV-positive women in Nairobi, Kenya. She also gained invaluable clinical experience working at the Pumwani Maternity Hospital and a health clinic for sex-workers. Katrine returned to Africa after completing medical school, spending six months in Madagascar and Malawi working with local surgeons to gain a better understanding of the surgical needs in emerging health-care systems, and how local practitioners cope with minimal resources. Her current research interests lay in identifying the surgical needs of pediatric patients particularly in East and Sub-Saharan Africa. She plans to complete a fellowship in pediatric surgery after residency and continue to work abroad with a focus on improving pediatric surgical training in emerging healthcare systems.

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