I will be working as a pediatric emergency medicine fellow in Kigali, Rwanda as part of my international fieldwork rotation in my Combined Pediatric Emergency Medicine – Global Health (PEM-GH) fellowship from August 1st-September 30, 2026. This is in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Rwanda. I will participate in clinical work in the university teaching hospital of Kigali through direct patient care. I will also provide bedside and didactic teaching of local medical students and residents in the field of pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine. I also hope to pilot a Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) elective for global health fellows like myself, with the goal of trialing virtual quality assurance practices, bedside teaching, and patient care.
I will be working with a pediatric population in Rwanda to care for a wide range of emergency conditions including pneumonia, congenital heart disease, hematologic and oncologic conditions, dehydration, malaria. The central hospital where I will be working has more than 100 residents and numerous medical students. In my role as a teacher, I plan to provide bedside teaching, case discussions, hands on POCUS teaching, and formal educational sessions to the local learners. The University of Rwanda is planning to start the nations first Pediatric Emergency and Critical Care (PECC) fellowship during my time there, I will provide support and teaching to the new fellows and help strengthen the emerging partnership between Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Rwanda.
I hope to have a positive impact on children and families who are able to benefit from collaborative clinical care and shared expertise while I am working in Kigali, although my individual contribution for this short-term rotation will be negligible compared to the local, full time physicians. I will encourage local trainee growth and development as future physicians who will eventually join the workforce in country. I expect to grow as a clinician myself and improve my fund of knowledge of the local health system as well as the care and management of tropical and neglected diseases. I will provide support and collaborate with the local physicians to help with successful initiation of the PECC fellowship. I will also increase capacity for POCUS in the pediatric emergency room and start to lay the groundwork for high quality and readily available ultrasound for clinical care. I will be the second PEM-GH fellow from my home institution to rotate here, we hope to nurture a longitudinal and bidirectional partnership for pediatric emergency care with collaboration between our institutions and trainees.
This trip had a positive impact on pediatric patients, pediatric residents, and medical students. I was able to bring a donated ultrasound machine from my home institution. With this ultrasound machine, I started a weekly teaching series with didactic lectures for over 20 pediatric residents paired with hands-on teaching sessions. I also implemented a hybrid virtual and in person POCUS conference where we reviewed cases from CHUK with physicians in Rwanda and POCUS fellowship trained experts in the United States. Future pediatric emergency fellows traveling to Kigali and CHUK will continue these sessions going forward, allowing for a sustainable and bidirectional teaching initiative. The pediatric residents in Rwanda were able to demonstrate use of their POCUS skills to impact patient care in real time with supervision.
