Mount Sinai Partners With Dhulikhel Hospital in Nepal to Launch Adolescent Health Clinic
Mary Ott, MD, MA, the Arnhold Institute for Global Health, and partners at the ribbon cutting of the Adolescent Health Clinic at Dhulikhel Hospital in Nepal
Dhulikhel Hospital and the AMPATH Nepal partnership recently launched an Adolescent Health Clinic at the hospital. The clinic was the culmination of months of work and training that brought adolescent health experts from Mount Sinai’s Arnhold Institute for Global Health to Nepal to train and support Nepali health workers in providing world-class care to adolescents.
The clinic provides comprehensive, integrated care every Thursday for young people ages 10-19, aiming to improve access to adolescent-centered health services at Dhulikhel Hospital and its surrounding rural communities. Through a collaborative approach involving doctors, nurses, psychologists, and other health professionals, the clinic offers holistic care across key areas such as reproductive health (including family planning, menstrual health, and adolescent gynecology), mental health, and chronic disease management, with a focus on supporting youth in transitioning to adult care. This integrated approach reflects a deep commitment to meeting the diverse and evolving needs of adolescents in a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment.
AMPATH Nepal is a collaboration of Dhulikhel Hospital and Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences in Nepal, and the AMPATH Consortium of academic medical centers led by the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Mount Sinai.
A Growing Need for Adolescent Care
The need for the adolescent clinic was initially recognized at multiple levels. Dhulikhel Hospital pediatricians saw that their adolescent patients often had mental health issues and other concerns that medical providers weren’t equipped to handle. School nurses in the community shared the concern that they weren’t sure where to refer adolescents, especially young girls, who asked for reproductive health services, or who needed mental health care.
Prithuja Poudyal, MD, a pediatric neurologist and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Dhulikhel Hospital, was one of the concerned providers. She noted that her patients with chronic illnesses didn’t have experts to turn to when they needed to navigate the transition to adult medical providers, a transition that can be scary and intimidating. Adolescents may also be seen as “challenging” patients because they are asserting their independence and testing boundaries.
Dr. Poudyal and others saw an urgent need for specialized training for Dhulikhel Hospital providers to help their patients navigate this tricky developmental stage by providing adolescent-friendly services and “transition” care: services that help youth with chronic diseases bridge the transition to making their own medical decisions, without their parents and with new, non-pediatric health care providers. Dr. Poudyal joined several faculty members to advocate for their patients and establish an adolescent clinic at Dhulikhel Hospital. The Arnhold Institute for Global Health provided the expertise, through the Global Youth Health Program, to plan, develop, and launch the clinic.
Dhulikhel Hospital’s First Adolescent Health Training
Medical and nursing students trained to roleplay as adolescent patients celebrating the first adolescent clinical training at Dhulikhel Hospital
In March 2024, a team from the Arnhold Institute traveled to Nepal to conduct the first adolescent health provider training at Dhulikhel Hospital. The program began by training youth to roleplay as adolescent patients, followed by two, four-day sessions of provider training. The course combined evidence-based lectures with interactive sessions where clinicians practiced communicating and counseling with the youth in various scenarios. More than 50 health care providers from nine departments across Dhulikhel Hospital participated in the training, gaining practical experience in delivering youth-friendly, respectful, and confidential services.
The Adolescent Clinic Launch
Building on this momentum, Dhulikhel Hospital launched its Adolescent Health Clinic on Thursday, April 24. Many of the faculty and staff members who had participated in the training attended. The youth who had acted as patients were excited to see that the training they helped provide would be put to good use.
Dr. Poudyal and Mary Ott, MD, MA, Associate Director of Global Youth Health Programs at the Arnhold Institute, both spoke at the inauguration, along with Ram Kantha Makaju Shrestha, Dr. med. univ., the founder of Dhulikhel Hospital. In her speech, Dr. Ott said, “We hope to build on young people’s strengths and capacities and involve young people themselves in creating new and innovative solutions. The clinic represents a shift in how Dhulikhel Hospital sees adolescents—not as a big risk, but a huge opportunity.”
Vhari Forsyth, MBBS, MRCPCH, is Program Manager of Adolescent Health Programs at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health.