VIU-NED FELLOWSHIPS MAKE POSSIBLE THE TRAINING OF NEUROSURGEON RESIDENTS FROM AFRICAN COUNTRIES

By: | Tags: | Comments: 0 | March 8th, 2023

  • The first of the grants awarded by the annual Fellowship 2022 programme of the VIU-NED Chair in Global Neuroscience and Social Change has enabled the Kenyan neurosurgeon, Dr. Emmanuel Wafula Wekesa, to spend three months in specialised Spanish centres.
  • Dr. Wafula Wekesa states that the experience was highly enriching and will have a very positive impact on his professional practice.

 

 

The VIU-NED Chair in Global Neuroscience and Social Change of the International University of Valencia and the NED Foundation has among its main missions to promote the development of neurosurgery in low-income countries in order to create a positive impact on their societies.

One of the projects that the Chair has worked to achieve this goal has been the creation of the VIU-NED COSECSA Fellowships, a financial aid programme aimed at offering specialised training in clinical, surgical and research skills in the field of neurosurgery to resident doctors from the College of Surgeons of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA).

The first instalment of the Fellowships finances the training of two COSECSA doctors, through their ‘rotational’ stay in two Spanish centres of reference: the Hospital Universitario de la Ribera (HUR) in Alzira and the University of Alicante, where they will be able to attend different sessions and interventions that will boost their professional careers. The programme lasts three months and is structured as follows:

The fellow spends six weeks at the HUR’s Neuroanatomy Laboratory and at the Neurosurgery Unit of the same institution, with the aim of learning the basic principles of microsurgery in brain and spinal injuries.

Then the fellow undertakes a further six-week training stay  at the Neuroanatomy Laboratory of the University of Alicante (Spain) with the aim of broadening and consolidating knowledge of neurosurgical anatomy.

To learn more about this programme and Dr. Wafula Wekesa’s expetience, read this interview: link