The WFNS /ACNS Seminar including a live surgery program was held in Nyeri, Kenya December 20-22, 2019. Course Directors included FIENS Board Members Dr. Yoko Kato, Dr. Mahmood M Qureshi, and local course coordinator Dr. Andrew Nyaoncha. Chair Robert Dempsey also attended and contributed with lectures and live surgery. The Boot Camp brought international faculty and trainees throughout Africa for the education and seminars – important for transforming healthcare in the region.
The course was led by international faculty from Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, who taught approximately 60 trainees from throughout the Sub-Saharan region of Africa. Lectures were given of extremely high quality and cases were discussed. The surgical component with live surgery was held at the local hospital. Most of the equipment was supplied by Dr. Andrew Nyaoncha, a recently trained neurosurgeon who returned to his home city, and FIENS plans to equip them further with a microscope. The hope for this area is extremely good as this program continues to expand with plans for additional ORs and ICU. The present ICU is clean and neat, with basic ventilators and 5 beds. The ORs are used for major surgeries (including neurosurgery), and they are well equipped; anesthesia was quite adequate.
Overall it was an extremely positive Boot Camp with many plans for their future and expanding their programs. A 2020 FIENS Board Meeting will be held at the Continental Neurosurgical Society Meeting in Nairobi next year with possible courses in the future to continue the education of neurosurgeons in Kisumu, Uganda and Pakistan. This program should have a great impact on a huge catchment area of the central and northern part of Kenya, which previously had no neurosurgical care. This results in exactly what FIENS is hoping to achieve – a change for the better and a high quality of care for people that had no care before.
Robert J. Dempsey MD
Chair, Foundation for International Education in Neurological Surgery
