It took more than a year, but last fall a team of healthcare professionals from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) finally saw their hard work come to fruition. They participated in the grand opening – complete with a ribbon-cutting – of the new cardiovascular wellness center they helped establish in Minsk. The center was set up in the already existing Polyclinic No. 39, in the capital of the country now known as Belarus. The seven-story clinic offered other medical specialties but had no preventive health care.

"The concept of preventing disease was totally unheard of there," says David Kountz, MD, associate professor of medicine at RWJMS and a member of the team.

Located in a working-class area of the city that has, for reasons unknown, an unusually high incidence of cardiovascular disease, the wellness center is now equipped with a cholesterol-measuring machine, and all clinic patients are asked to fill out a questionnaire. Those with risk factors, such as an unhealthy diet, smoking and/or family history of the disease, are referred to the center. Team member Anna Petrova, a postdoctoral fellow at RWJMS who was raised and educated in Minsk, wrote several health brochures in Russian.

The project was funded by a grant from the American International Health Alliance and was procured by Andrew Greene, chief executive officer of the Robert Wood Johnson Health Network. Most of the funding, he says, was used for travel expenses; the healthcare providers donated their time. Greene, a nurse and another physician were also part of the team.

The exchange began in June 1999. The RWJMS doctors traveled to Minsk three times, and the Belarussian physicians visited the medical school in New Jersey twice. The two teams saw patients side-by-side and the Russian physicians learned how American health care is delivered. "Our biggest hurdle will be to elevate the role of the Belarussian nurse," Kountz says. "Nurses’ education there is not nearly as extensive as it is here, and they simply follow the physician’s directions. They’re actually like clerks," Kountz says. The American team also explained the use of educational materials, since doctors in Belarus don’t rely on textbooks or journals.

The grant has been extended, so the next step, Greene says, will be to put computers in place that can measure the cost-effectiveness and success of preventive healthcare.

Kountz says the project was among the most rewarding of his entire career. "I think all of our efforts will have a direct effect on the people," he says. "After the opening, there was a health fair and at least 1,000 people came out. It’s still too early to tell, but I think we’ve made great strides." The group will return this winter.

Belarussian delegates visted New Brunswick as part of an exchange program to see patients and learn techniques. Representatives from the University include:(second from left) Steven Kairys, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, RWJMS, and University Medical Group President and COO;(fourth from left) Andrew Greene,CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Health Network; and (far right) David S. Kountz, MD, Associate Dean for postgraduate Education and Associate Professor of Medicine, RWJMS, and Chief, Division of Primary care, RWJUH.