Working towards a Sustainable Surgical Workforce in Malawi
Malawi currently has fewer than 50 surgeons treating a population of 18 million; the need for increased surgical capacity is desperate in a country where just $93 per person is spent on healthcare. The proportion of surgeons of Malawian heritage has historically been low, resulting in high turnover. Furthermore, many Malawians have in the past undertaken further surgical training abroad never to return home.
Dr Linda Kayange (second right), recipient of the Malawi Fellowship 2018
This collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) has provided the resources necessary to train Malawian medical school graduates in country. In training these Malawian graduates we are not only increasing the country’s surgical capacity - we are safeguarding the future of Malawi’s surgical patients; those being taught today will become the surgical teachers and leaders of the future.
By investing in training now, this project will build the infrastructure necessary for generations of Malawian surgeons to follow, providing a lifeline to a health service that has been critically understaffed for far too long.
