Sharing Expertise in a Sister State by James R. Claflin, MD

Living Well | Mind, Body, Spirit
Sharing Expertise in a Sister State
By James R. Claflin, M.D.
Dr. Claflin, a member of the Oklahoma Allergy and
Asthma Clinic, practices full-time allergy and clinical
immunology. He served as the 2004 president of the
Oklahoma County Medical Society, was Secretary-
Treasurer of the Oklahoma State Medical Association,
and is active with national medical associations. He
and his wife, Marcee, direct the Oklahoma/Gansu
Province Medical Professional Exchange Program.
Dr. Claflin with Dr. Guo Tiang Kung, cardiologist
and senior hospital leader of the Gansu
Provincial People’s Hospital, and one of the
physicians who began conversing with Dr.
Claflin about medicine in China and the United
States during his first visit in 2001. They
have since become lao peng you: old friends.
Gansu Province in mid-central China has a population of 28,000,000 and terrain varying
from mountainous to true desert… and a sister state: Oklahoma. Its capital, Lanzhou, is
situated in a valley between two mountain ranges. A multitude of high rise buildings
of 30 to 40 stories, most of which hold apartments for the over 3 million inhabitants, populate
the valley from one end to the other. The city is approximately two-and-a-half miles wide and 25
miles long, but manufacturing facilities are located on each end – resulting in an extreme possibility
of industrial pollution.
During an Oklahoma state trade delegation visit in November 2001, an opportunity was provided
to visit with three leaders of the medical community. The discussion centered around local
health problems including industrial pollution, water contamination, sewage disposal, infectious
diseases and provision of medical care. The degree of water contamination became evident
when the delegation realized the water from the tap in the hotels could not be used for drinking
or brushing their teeth. The medical leaders were very open regarding the difficulties that were
being encountered by the Gansu Province Department of Health.
The chance to return to Gansu Province annually since that initial visit has allowed the formation
of many friendships within the medical community. During subsequent discussions, the
possibility of exchanging medical information was made a priority. A group of Oklahoma physicians
(specializing in neurology, cardiology, orthopedic surgery, endocrinology and allergy), primarily
from Oklahoma County, visited Lanzhou in April 2005. Each of the physicians provided
lectures to the local medical community regarding the individual specialties represented. The
medical information provided formed a stepping stone in fostering continuing medical education
opportunities for their local medical community.
In the summer of 2006, two members of the Gansu Province medical leadership visited Oklahoma
City. Their itinerary included the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, St. Anthony
Medical Center, Deaconess Medical Center, INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center and Mercy
Health Center. They were provided tours of various departments of the hospitals including radiology,
surgery, ER, rehabilitation, intensive care and general care areas. The visiting leaders were
very interested in the technology available for use with patients, and on their return to Gansu
Province, they were instrumental in obtaining funding from the Gansu Province Department of
Health and Gansu Provincial People’s Government for funding an exchange program for physicians
from the Gansu Province to the Oklahoma City medical community.
After funding was obtained, the program was designed to have six medical professionals
visit Oklahoma City for six-month periods of educational observation. The first “class” of medical
professionals arrived in April 2007 and participated in educational observation, “shadowing,”
through September 2007. Since that time, a total of 35 individuals have been involved in the program.
The medical specialties involved have included anesthesiology, cardiology, endocrinology,
pediatrics, neonatology, radiology, ultrasonography, critical care medicine, administrative medicine,
pharmacology, ob-gyn, reproductive medicine, gynecologic oncology, nephrology, urology,
general surgery, orthopedic surgery, transplant surgery, head and neck surgery, oral surgery, thoracic
surgery and orthopedic nursing.
september 2011 | slice 77