About IVUmed

IVUmed is committed to making quality urological care available to people worldwide. In fulfilling this mission, IVUmed provides medical and surgical education to physicians and nurses and treatment to thousands of suffering children and adults.

IVUmed's award-winning founder, Dr. Catherine deVries, began forming our teaching and service model in Honduras in 1992. There, Dr. deVries saw the unmet need for pediatric urology education. Children in developing countries with problems of the kidneys, bladder and genitalia fell through the cracks in healthcare. Adult urologists did not care for children, and pediatric surgeons had little experience with urology. At the request of the Honduran pediatric surgeons, Dr. deVries began implementing IVUmed's model for teaching pediatric urological reconstruction in developing countries. Over the years, we have refined our approach to address complications and problems stemming from the difficulties of doing complex urogenital reconstruction in resource-limited settings where nurses have limited education and pain management is poorly understood. In 1992, Dr. deVries began working with Honduran plastic surgeons and general urologists, and over the years moved to a more sustainable relationship with pediatric surgeons specializing in pediatric urology. Nearly 100 patients are seen during each workshop while educating primary care providers, ward nurses, pediatric surgeons, and most recently, pediatric urologists. Our Honduras program has grown to include physicians from across the country now capable of performing relatively complex operations independent of IVUmed.

Program Accomplishments

Following on the model developed in Honduras, IVUmed took its expertise to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to the 800 bed Children's Hospital #1. Before IVUmed began work in Ho Chi Minh City, South Vietnam did not have any academic pediatric urology. Between 1994 and 2005, five hundred operations were performed by the IVUmed teams and Vietnamese surgeons. Independently, and after training by IVUmed teams, local doctors have now operated on more than 7,000 patients, ages 1-22 years. Since our first workshop in Vietnam in 1994, its Vietnamese partners have increased surgical output (number of patients treated annually), by ten times, or 1000%.

Primary successes in Vietnam include the development of a pediatric urology program at Children's Hospital #1 to include treatment of the most difficult urological malformations and the introduction by IVUmed of advances in pediatric anesthesiology such as epidural anesthesia for hypospadias repair. Most importantly, our Vietnamese partners train 3 pediatric residents and 3-6 fellows each year. They also train 4-6 adult urologists from various provinces and host urology residents for 1-2 months every year. Training provided by IVUmed in this vitally important surgical field once virtually absent from South Vietnam is now passed on by local experts to 10-15 physicians every year. We apply this model to each of our partner sites to develop sustainable, self-reliant surgical programs capable of meeting each region’s pediatric urology needs.

Other Programs

Building on the success of our pediatric urology program, we expanded to other areas of urological care and teaching. Established in 2003, the women's health program teaches physicians to treat the devastating effects of vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF), a condition that causes a woman to constantly leak urine and/or feces, typically after a long, obstructed labor.

IVUmed also sends 12-15 North American urology residents accompanied by mentor urologists to developing countries to exchange ideas and practices with host physicians and residents. This program affords residents from the United States and Canada the opportunity to experience surgical work in a developing world setting while encouraging them to engage in a lifetime of international volunteer service.

Awards and Recognition

IVUmed has received a number of awards in recognition of its efforts. In 2006, IVUmed founder and president, Dr. Catherine deVries, was awarded the prestigious Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Excellence in International Medicine by the American Medical Association. IVUmed was named "Best in State" in 2003 as Utah's premier humanitarian organization. In 2002, Dr. deVries was named a "Health Care Hero" by Utah Business Magazine. In 2000, IVUmed was selected as the only surgical organization to partner with the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and others in the Gates Foundation's Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (Elephantiasis). IVUmed was cited in 1999 by the Cuban Ministry of Health as the best organized and most valuable teaching team serving Cuba. In 2007, Dr. deVries was named as the first woman ever to the Societe Internationale d'Urologie (SIU) Board of Chairmen. IVUmed was consulted in the presentation of the award-winning film A Walk to Beautiful about female urological conditions.