Fellowship for two Tanzanian surgeons

Dr Fidelis Mbunda and Dr Emmanuel Motega started their 9 month programme in Madrid in June 20024, where they worked with Prof Julio Acero  at Hospital Ramón and Hospital Universitario Quirón and with Prof José-Luis Cebrián-Carretero at La Paz University Hospital.

Whilst in Madrid, they were exposed to a wide range of maxillofacial procedures including the management of facial and craniofacial trauma, salivary gland temporomandibular joint disorders. They were also introduced to great Spanish hospitality and food. Our thanks to all the staff in Madrid.

They transferred to Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead at the end of September until their departure for a Christmas break at home in Mwanza.

At Queen Victoria Hospital,the demographics are somewhat different as this is a tertiary referral centre for major maxillofacial, head and neck, ENT, plastic and eye surgery. Prof Aash Gulati oversaw their time and introduced them to the many consultant surgeons. They were involved in the management of head and neck cancer surgery and introduced to the world of microvascular reconstruction.

An additional bonus at East Grinstead was working with one of the consultant surgeons, Prof Jag Dhanda who developed VRIMS (www.vrims.net), virtual reality in medicine and surgery. He says “this is the world’s largest immersive surgical training resource, bringing efficiency in training with improved retention and skill acquisition, as well as having the mission to use it for equity in learning for LMICs. The resources include anaesthetics and every surgical specialty including general surgery, trauma and orthopaedics, obstetrics and gynaecology as well as head and neck (plastics ENT and OMFS)”. It has now been introduced into all UK medical schools and is being adopted internationally. It is an amazing surgical training concept. It is our intention to install the necessary equipment in the Bugando Medical Centre.They have also seen much surgery for the correction of facial deformity and the management of craniomaxillofacial trau

A huge thanks to all the wonderful staff at QVH

After Christmas, they  will continue their programme at the GSR Institute in Hyderabad from the middle of January for a further three months with Professor Gosla Reddy and his team.