Fiona Strasserking, M.D., says that caring for women in Zambia and giving them hope has been the most impactful thing she has accomplished.

A group of UTSW physicians from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, led by Joseph Schaffer, M.D. (second from right), Chief of Gynecology at Parkland Memorial Hospital and UT Southwestern, traveled to Zambia to help perform fistula and pelvic organ prolapse surgeries in 2023 and continued that mission in summer 2024. They called the work very inspiring.

Roger Bedimo, M.D., (center), is Director of UTSW’s Office of Global Health.

Zambia is a country of more than 20 million people with only 10 formally trained cardiologists, so UTSW's Fiona Strasserking, M.D., has set up training sessions with internal medicine residents at the University of Zambia. "Essentially, everyone there has to become a heart doctor," she said.