As PGY-4 ENT resident, I will assist with complex cases, perform appropriate-level procedures under supervision, and adapt surgical techniques to resource-limited settings with frequent power outages.
Teaching Activities & Local Physician Engagement: I will conduct bedside teaching with local physicians on advanced thyroid surgical techniques, nerve monitoring, perioperative management, and sustainable surgical practices. My MS Global Health background and understanding of the African culture enable culturally competent education and direct staff communication.
Responsibilities & Preparation. I will serve as primary resident for appropriate cases, coordinate patient flow, lead teaching sessions, troubleshoot equipment issues, and establish sustainable telemedicine protocols.
Uganda's thyroid goiter epidemic affects 60% of the population due to iodine deficiency. Our mission provides advanced thyroidectomies and head/neck surgeries to patients who have waited decades for treatment.
Growing up in Nigeria, I witnessed American physicians arrive on mission trips, bringing hope to underserved communities. I saw at an early age the light they brought with them, healing the sick and providing care for the needy, and the effect that had on my community. These individuals inspired my decision to pursue medicine, specifically in America. I believe that my early exposure set me up in an understanding that this is my purpose, to be the best physician possible and dedicate my life to loving others by being an instrument for healing. My approach differs from traditional missions I observed as a child because I grew up in a community similar to the one we are going to. Rather than just providing immediate care, I'm committed to sustainable capacity building - not feeding people fish, but teaching them to fish. Through telemedicine innovation, I hope to ensures our impact extends beyond our physical presence through continuous physician-patient relationships and ongoing local provider education.
I recently had the privilege of serving with Operation International at Livingstone University Teaching Hospital in Livingstone, Zambia, work that was possible because of people like you who believed in it before it happened.
This trip carried deep personal meaning for me. Growing up in Nigeria, I watched physicians from abroad come into communities like mine and bring hope to people who had waited years for care. Those experiences helped shape my desire to become a doctor. After moving to the United States, immigration barriers kept me from joining international medical missions for years. I stayed involved from a distance, helping organize teams, supporting global health work, and preparing myself clinically for the day I could go back. This trip was the first time I returned to Africa not as a child watching others serve, but as a surgeon in training able to serve directly. Your support made that return possible.
Our multidisciplinary team worked alongside Zambian surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, residents, and medical students to provide surgical care in a region with limited access to specialized ENT services. Together we completed 71 surgical cases, including complex thyroid, head and neck, general surgery, and otolaryngology procedures. We also performed the first two endoscopic sinus surgeries an Operation International team has completed in Zambia. The hospital already had much of the necessary equipment. What it lacked was the specialized training to use it fully. That told us something important: the need here is not only surgical volume, it is sustained education, mentorship, and partnership.
One patient I will never forget was a woman with a large thyroid goiter whom we found through community outreach in the local market as we went around in search of patient in need. People in the area knew her by the swelling in her neck, as though her condition had become part of her identity, they kept talking about the woman in the market with the neck swelling. When we finally met her, she told us God had told her it was time to have the surgery, even though she had tried for many years to get it done. It felt as though she had been waiting for us. We removed her goiter and she made it home safely. She is no longer the woman with the swelling in her neck. She has her name back. That is what your support did.
Beyond the operating room, we taught medical students basic suturing skills, donated practice kits, and worked side by side with the local surgical team. What began as a surgical mission became the start of something larger: trust built, local capacity identified, and the outline of a more lasting partnership through case discussion, telemedicine, and future visits.
Thank you for making this possible. Your contribution gave a community access to care it had waited months and years for. It also helped strengthen the people and systems already caring for that community long after our team leaves.
