FIENS Clack Family Fellow 2020 Update
My name is Simon Mukuye and I am a 2020 FIENS/CLACK FAMILY scholarship recipient from Uganda. I recently graduated as a Neurosurgeon from the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa. I must say that my training in Neurosurgery was only made possible by the FIENS scholarship. The financial support from the FIENS scholarship enabled me to spend time on the neurosurgical wards, attend clinical lectures and a neurosurgical clinical fellowship at an institution outside Uganda. The funding provided the financial support I needed to attend a neurosurgical clinical fellowship at Yashoda Hospital in Hyderabad, India.
At Yashoda hospital I participated in many neurosurgical procedures including but not limited to DBS ( deep brain stimulation) for tremors, stereotactic brain biopsy, radiofrequency ablative surgery for trigeminal neuralgia, brain tumor resection with a CUSA (Cavitron ultrasonic surgical aspirator), tumor embolization, AVM embolization, and aneurysm coiling, and the utilization of neuronavigation equipment in some cranial procedures.
My best neurosurgical training experience in Uganda was at CURE hospital in Mbale, Uganda where I participated in over 30 pediatric brain tumor resections and also did a number of endoscopic third ventriculostomies single-handedly over a period of 4 months.
The funding from the FIENS scholarship also enabled me to attend a clinical fellowship at Mbarara University teaching hospital in Uganda. At Mbarara hospital I had a chance to attend many neuro-radiology and neuropathology conferences, I attended grand rounds on TBI, functional neuroanatomy, spine stability, and skull base anatomy to mention just a few.
Thank you FIENS for having enabled a rich neurosurgical training experience for me in Uganda.
