Train One Surgeon, Impact Thousands of Children
Each CURE hospital is a teaching hospital that equips the next generation.
News | 1 Sept 2024
In 1998, when CURE Kenya was preparing to open its doors, there were only a handful of orthopedic surgeons for the country’s 30 million people. Africa, the continent with the world’s fastest growing population, has the fewest number of surgical specialists per capita due in part to limited training capacity and lack of resources (The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery).
CURE’s founders recognized the best way to serve the growing number of children needing treatment for conditions like clubfoot, bowed legs, and knock knees would be to invest in training national surgeons to perform surgeries and help train others.
As CURE Kenya was preparing to open, a local Kenyan with dreams of becoming an orthopedic surgeon was finishing his medical internship at the neighboring Kijabe Hospital. His name was Dr. Joseph Theuri, and he accepted CURE’s invitation to become the hospital’s first surgical trainee. CURE sponsored his training at Makerere University in Uganda, where the region’s only orthopedic training program was at that time.
Impact Multiplied
Twenty-six years later, Dr. Theuri is now CURE Kenya’s Medical Director. He has been integral in growing the hospital into a regional training hub that has trained—or sponsored training for—468 more surgeons who not only serve within CURE’s network but also take their medical expertise to villages and communities across the continent.
Today, partnering with recognized accreditation organizations like the College of Surgeons for East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA), CURE has established surgical residency and fellowship programs in our hospitals in Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia. And universities and hospitals across the continent, and around the world, send students and surgical fellows to CURE for specialty training. In partnership with the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS), we equip local surgeons to both meet medical needs and share the love of Jesus.
“Our desire is to train surgeons who can train others so that no child with a life-limiting disability will have to wait for the surgical care they need,” Dr. Theuri says. “It’s a sustainable approach that will help meet the long-term spiritual and physical needs in the countries where we work.”
The Next Generation of CURE Doctors
Learn about Dr. Toffa Barnabé, Dr. Micheal Ogwal, and Dr. Chelsea Shikuku—3 of 468 surgeons CURE has trained to serve Africa and beyond.
Dr. Toffa Barnabé was a General Practioner at CURE Niger and is currently in his first year of a five-year surgical residency program at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal. He will return to CURE Niger as a Pediatric Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon.
“I became a Christian after experiencing the love and care of God’s people. I am excited to share the same love of Christ with the children and families I serve at CURE Niger.”
Dr. Micheal Ogwal, a former Medical Officer at CURE Uganda, is midway through a five-year neurosurgical training program at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He will return to CURE Uganda as a Pediatric Neurosurgeon.
“Neurosurgeons in Africa need comprehensive training. I could not afford it on my own, but partners come alongside to make it possible. [Being a neurosurgeon] is more than a job. It’s a calling God has given me.”
Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Chelsea Shikuku was awarded the first-ever CURE pediatric orthopedic fellowship. After the two-year program, a joint effort between CURE Kenya and CURE Ethiopia, she will return to CURE Kenya as a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon.
“The way I see it, you plant a seed. The seed becomes a tree and feeds a lot more people. Even if you sponsor a small group of surgeons, they have a huge ripple effect.”
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