Summary

Dr. Ruchi Puri completed the Global Health Fellowship Pathway in 2011 and is working with Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres to address the issue of obstetric fistula in East Africa.  She received her undergraduate degree in Economics from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, a Medical Degree from Ben Gurion University and trained in Obstetric and Gynecology at George Washington University.

Upon completing Ob/Gyn residency training, Dr. Puri joined the Duke Global Health Pathway and earned a Master of Science in Global Health. She spent a year in Tanzania researching risk factors associated with preeclampsia, post-traumatic stress in obstetric fistula patients and conducted emergency obstetric training to providers from dispensary to tertiary care facilities in Northern and Central Tanzania, as part of the Duke/KCMC Women’s Health Collaboration. Additionally, she engaged in gynecologic and obstetric fistula outreach surgery throughout rural Tanzania and Kenya with African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF). As part of the AMREF collaboration, she studied the barriers to uptake of Safe Motherhood and fistula services, the impact of surgical treatment on quality of life of fistula patients, and developed a comprehensive prospective surgical fistula database evaluating current classification systems and patient prognoses. In addition, she engaged in health systems research in Rwanda where she completed a Knowledges, Attitudes and Practice Survey (KAPS) study of obstetric care among providers of Bugesera Disrtict, Rwanda.

Representative publications:

• Puri R, Rulisa S, Joharifard S, Wilkinson J, Kayamaywa P, Thielman N. Knowledge Attitudes and Practices in Safe Motherhood among Obestetric Providers in Bugesera District Rwanda. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2012 Feb;116(2):124-7. Epub 2011 Nov 23.

• Puri R, Leppert P. Management of Perineal and Vaginal Injuries During Child Birth. Wounds International, 2011 May; 2(2): 13-15.