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Tuesday, 27 October 2020

A CELEBRATION OF THE MARK TOWRISS BURSARY FAMILY DOCTORS

WE HAVE NOW SPONSORED  8 FAMILY DOCTORS

 having raised over £125,000 over 11 years.  This year we will need to raise a further £12,000; see donation instructions on the right of this blog

 Our 8 Bursary Family Doctors now qualified are working in medically deprived areas:  


New life. A Kenyan citizen from Chogoria

 Dr. Vitalis Juma  at Vihiga County Hospital, Dr. Osborn Tembu has served faithfully at St. Mary's Langata next to Kibera, Nairobi's largest informal settlement.  The third, Dr. Ronald Kibet, returned to his rural Bomet County home as Medical Superintendant of Longissa County Hospital.
 September 2019 saw the graduation of 5 more Bursary Scholars and we have 17 more sponsored doctors still training.

Congratulations to the  new Doctors of Family Medicine 

Dr David Mung'ara completed his four year training at Kijabe Hospital. This year David joined the Kijabe Family Medicine Dept, preparing to take an educational leadership position in Kijabe.



Dr Elijah Yulu completed his training at Chogoria Hospital near the 16,000ft Mt Kenya. He has been working at a hospital in Nairobi that serves the 'informal settlements' (slums) while his wife trains as an opthalmologist.






Dr Boaz Niyinyumva also completed his training in Chogoria Hospital.              He has worked AIC Litein Hospital before returning to Burundi, Kibuye Hope Hospital in 2021, to help start a new Family Medicine training there, a country that desperately needs more doctors.  
  


Dr Elijah Terer  joined Tenwek hospital to train as a nurse. After many years of study and hard work he is now a qualified Family Doctor and has joined the department with the hope of him leading the family medicine team at Tenwek in the future.




                                




Dr Faith Lelei  and her husband, Jeff, an orthopaedic surgeon, have established a medical mission in Kenya and plan someday to move to a place of greater medical need. But this year she has joined the Family Medicine department of Kijabe Hospital.





Our current final year students, due to graduate December, joined in 2016
 from Kenya, Burundi and Democratic Republic of the Congo: 
 Sarah Kiptiness; Joy Murage 
Mourine Melena;MusaSaruti Greville; Gad Igiraneza
                       Simiyu Bramwell Wesesa; Kositany Hillary
(Dr. Wesesa has deferred for a year as he did an MA in medical ethics in the USA
 and will qualify in 2021)

 Fourth, and final,  year students who joined in 2017 from Kenya, Burundi and Ethiopia:



Amy Iyah Akim; Stella Muthoni Mweu; Alida Iradukunda

Sifora Chaleabo Fanta; Belyse Arakaza


Introducing the 2018 Mark Towriss Bursary Scholarship Recipients

Dr. Fridah Kiptui was first introduced to Family Medicine as a student and was attracted by the diversity of skills necessary for professionals working in low-resource settings. During her intern years her interest in Family Medicine grew when she met other residents from the Kabarak University Family Medicine programme and she decided to train too. 

With a two-month gap before starting, she found a job  close to Kabarak at a health clinic. Dr Kiptui decided that the best way to get to know her new community was to respond to a need and expand her clinical experience. With her hunger for knowledge, energy and passion, she is a natural teacher, and she hopes that her career will involve teaching health professionals. Fridah and her fiancé Eric are planning to marry, with Eric hoping to train as a paediatrician.


Growing up in western Uganda with a single mother, Dr. Tadeo Katuramu often faced challenges to continue his education. Dr. Scott supported Tadeo through his studies in medicine and welcomed him in their family. He was the first family doctor Tadeo met and embodied all that he wanted to do in medicine. Tadeo joined the Kabarak Family Medicine residency program in September 2018.

Tadeo leaves a strong impression on those who first meet him. You would never guess the hardships he has faced, for he radiates joy with a smile that brightens every room. His strategic thinking and problem solving skills beautifully complement his compassionate heart. Tadeo and his wife, Carolyne, have a 6-month old daughter, Adriel.

Dr. Kefa Lakasia was born in Kenya but his family moved to Uganda for work when he was young and there he completed all of his education. After completing his medical internship in a city, he made the conscious choice to seek employment at a rural hospital where he served until joining the Family Medicine residency programme.


Kefa has a quiet, patient demeanour and he attributes his compassion for patients to his own experience as a scared 13-year-old boy in pain from generalized arthritis. Given the few medical doctors in his region, he travelled 200 km by bus to be number 35 in the queue. By the time he was assessed, the evening bus to his home had left so they spent the night on the roadside. That particular day solidified his decision to pursue medicine. He strongly believes there must be another way for people to receive qualified care in their rural communities in Africa.


                                

AIC Kijabe Hospital has played a transformative role in Dr. Mediatrice Kyakimwa’s life. She comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where she completed her training as a medical doctor. When her first born daughter needed specialist surgical intervention, she and her husband relocated to Nairobi. A recommendation led her to a paediatric surgeon at Kijabe Hospital.  For over two years, she was the medical officer in charge of their HIV clinic. Since joining the Family Medicine residency programme she has demonstrated an  inspiring tenacity and strength with a gentleness and humility. 

Mediatrice is married with three children. Her husband is in his third year in a general surgery residency programme. They plan to return to DRC after completion of her training in 2022.  

 

Introducing the 2019 Mark Towriss Bursary Scholarship Recipients

After graduating from University of Nairobi in 2015, Dr. Lilian Kamita completed her internship year at Kijabe and was offered a job at hospital’s health centre extension. She recalls admiring the whole person care approach of the Kabarak Family Medicine students.  

Dr Kamita's  father has big plans for the two of them. He has built a hospital in Makueni in Eastern Kenya with hopes of being operational in 2020. This father-daughter duo intends to create a patient-centered facility focused on preventative care that is cost-effective for the rural populations it will serve. Because of this dream, Dr. Kamita began working on a 2nd bachelor degree - a BSc in Health Systems Management. Lilian  always brings enthusiasm and warmth to the classroom and enjoys creative writing to rejuvenate her spirits.

 


    Since graduating 10 years ago Dr. Michael Orenge has worked in diverse health sector settings in Kenya. He served as the medical superintendent of a district hospital and then two years in political leadership as the regional Medical Officer for Health.

 Missing patient care, he returned to full-time clinical duties in private practice for two years before joining Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders). Working for MSF impressed Michael as a “system that worked” in aligning continuity of care in practice and community engagement for public health. Dr Orenge has engaged in research  with Kenya Medical Research Institute and was inspired by how research  can impact the health of communities and policy change. It was then that he decided to join the Kabarak University Family Medicine residency programme. Michael is married to Nolyne and they have two sons. 



We will be supporting a further 5 new Towriss Bursary Scholars from September 2020.
 
We are very grateful for the donations we have been given that enables these doctors to receive much needed and diverse medical skills during their training. As Family Doctors many of them will be practicing in areas with no specialist doctors to call on.
THANK YOU for your support.















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The Mark Towriss Bursary Fund

Supporting GP training in East Africa

Mark Towriss Bursary style="float: left;" Fund

Dr Mark Towriss was dedicated to general practice and to the Bottisham Surgery community in particular. He loved to share with his patients the cycle of life: birth, death, illness, crisis - and renewed health. His enthusiasm for medical education, interest in the world, and innate human empathy made him a fine teacher of medical students and GP registrars.

When his daughter, Catriona, worked in rural Uganda in 2006, Mark visited her village. He was struck by the enormous health challenges facing small communities without the resource of an accessible GP practice. His wish was to find a supportive link to an East African primary healthcare centre. But his life was already full to bursting and this dream remained unfulfilled when he died suddenly in the midst of life, aged 54.

Mark Towriss bursary fund

The Mark Towriss Bursary Fund seeks to fulfil Mark’s wish, thereby narrowing, just a little, the huge discrepancy between the UK and East African health provision.

Bottisham surgery has 5,450 patients within a 6-mile radius

The surgery is served by theequivalent of three full-time qualified general practitioners, each having had at least 5 yearspost-graduate training. Within a 20-mile radius there are three fully-equipped general hospitals, providing comprehensive 24-hour emergency medical service of surgeons, physicians, anaesthetists, etc. for all – regardless ofability to pay.

Mark Towriss bursary fund

In Kenya there are 4,000 doctors for 32 millionpeople

One doctor for every 16,000 people – inclusive of all specialties. Moreover,approximately 80% of all doctors practise inurban areas whereas almost 80% of the population live in rural areas, often far from a town. Doctors working in rural areas, therefore, need to be multi-skilled in order to meet, with basic resources, the wide-ranging needs of their numerous patients. Family doctors need to repair wounds and perform emergency caesarean sections, treat out breaks of infectious diseases and illness due to poor nutrition as well as care for the many suffering from AIDS. Equally pressing is the need for leadership in promoting preventative healthcare and working with and motivating community health workers; for example supporting the skills of traditional birth attendants who are often the only care available to womenin childbirth. For such a monumental task, most doctors receive only 1 year’s training while working in rotation through medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics, and surgery. The relatively new discipline of Family Medicine provides a 3-year programme to properly equip doctors with the broad skills needed to be able to make a difference.

Mark Towriss bursary fund

Left: First M Med 2005 Bursary recipients with family medicine faculty (both with medical bags): Dr Peter Mwaka is now working as a family doctor at Kijabe hospital and Dr Patrick Chege, now appointed lecturer in Moi University family medicine dicision and working in Webuye district hospital.

We are partnering with The Institute of Family Medicine (INFA-MED) in Nairobi. In association with Moi University Medical School Kenya and five district hospitals, INFA-MED now runs a comprehensive 3-year post-graduate Master of Medicine in Family Health. The first cohort graduated in 2008!

Core modules include:

  • adult medical problems;
  • infectious and chronic diseases;
  • child health and paediatrics;
  • maternal and reproductive health, including family planning and obstetrics;
  • trauma and surgical specialties;
  • behavioural health;
  • cultural and spiritual concepts;
  • community health and programme administration;
  • epidemiology and research methods.

However vital family medicine skills are, training is not affordable for many doctors. This bursary intends to raise 75% of a doctor’s annual tuition fee for the duration of their 3 years training. AND we’ve committed to support ‘a doctor a year’ commencing in Autumn 2009. This year we need around £1,200. We’ll need twice this sum in 2010, and three times as much for 2011, before the sum reduces in steps in 2012 and 2013. Please give generously. If we can help transform three communities, it will provide a lasting legacy that Mark would be proud of.

The bursary fund is received by AIM (Africa Inland Mission), registered charity in England and Wales (1096364) and is allocated to the Family Medicine Leadership Development Fund, Kenya. This Fund has been set up solely to receive funds donated in Mark’s name, and successful applicants will formally receive ‘The Mark Towriss Bursary’.