Stories from the Road: PAACS

Thomas C. Robey, MD, on behalf of the Humanitarian Efforts Committee

Bongolo Hospital, Gabon.The Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) is a strategic response to the need for more surgeons in Africa. PAACS is a nondenominational, multinational service organization training African physicians who are willing to remain in Africa to become surgeons and anesthesiologists to meet this need. PAACS provides surgical training and spiritual fellowship at several well-established mission hospitals in 12 countries throughout Africa under the direction of experienced, board-certified surgeons. 

PAACS Educational Boot Camp for Residents.All PAACS programs are accredited through Loma Linda University, the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA), and the College of Anesthesiologists of East, Central, and Southern Africa (CANECSA). David Thompson, MD, started the first PAACS general surgery residency program in Bongolo, Gabon, in 1996, and the first PAACS surgeon graduated in 2002. Today, 156 PAACS graduates are serving in under-resourced areas in 23 African countries.

PAACS has general surgery programs at each of the above locations with the following exceptions and additions:

• Mbingo Baptist Hospital, Cameroon (also has a head and neck surgery fellowship)
• Soddo Christian Hospital, Ethiopia (also has an orthopedic surgery residency)
• CURE Ethiopia Hospital, Ethiopia (orthopedic surgery residency only)
• AIC Kijabe Hospital, Kenya (also has residencies in Orthopedic Surgery, Anesthesiology, and Plastic Surgery)
• BethanyKids Hospital, Kijabe, Kenya (pediatric surgery residency only)
• CURE Kenya Hospital (orthopedics residency only)
• Tenwek Hospital, Kenya (also has training programs in orthopedic surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and neurosurgery)

Location and Need

Fifty-six million people in Africa need surgical care. Ninety-three percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to safe surgical, anesthesia, and obstetric care that is timely and affordable. In many African countries, there is only one surgeon per 250,000 people. In some of the most rural areas, there may only be one surgeon for 2.5 million people. PAACS is helping to fill this great need. Currently, there are 26 PAACS training programs in 20 mission hospitals across 12 countries in Africa. PAACS has residency programs in general surgery, orthopedic surgery, pediatric surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, neurosurgery, and anesthesiology. PAACS also provides fellowship training in cardiothoracic surgery, head and neck surgery, plastic surgery, and pediatric orthopedic surgery. 

A Privilege to Serve for Almost 20 Years with PAACS

The author, Thomas C. Robey, MD, is a professor of pediatric otolaryngology and residency program director, otolaryngology, and communication sciences at the Medical College of Wisconsin.I have been involved with PAACS since my first trip to Gabon in 2005. I spent two weeks helping train Dr. Thompson’s surgical residents in ENT surgical care during that time. That visit opened my eyes to the need to train African surgeons to take care of all the surgical needs in Africa regardless of specialty. Rural surgeons in Africa take care of the skin and all its contents. 

Over the last 19 years, I have made numerous trips to serve as a visiting faculty surgeon at many of the PAACS hospitals throughout East and West Africa. It has been a special opportunity to teach ENT surgical care while getting to know the residents’ stories, their families, and their dreams. I have watched many of these residents graduate, establish their own mission practices, and continue the cycle of training more surgeons in their home countries. Becoming involved in the administration of these PAACS programs by serving on the Board of Directors for over 15 years has also been an honor. It has been a privilege to be part of PAACS resident education conferences, PAACS faculty development conferences, the opening of new PAACS programs, and graduation festivities over the years.

PAACS Faculty Development Conference at Malamulo Hospital in Malawi.Along the way, I have met many other otolaryngologists who have served with PAACS. James Smith, MD, was integral in the genesis of PAACS over 25 years ago and continues to serve in multiple capacities with PAACS today. Wayne M. Koch, MD, started the first PAACS head and neck surgical fellowship at Mbingo Hospital in Cameroon and has multiple fellows serving as head and neck surgeons today throughout the continent. Nathaniel Peterson, MD, is an otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon serving at Kijabe Hospital alongside Bryce R. Noblitt, MD, and they are currently in the process of starting a second PAACS head and neck fellowship in Kenya. Chege Macharia, MBChB, FCS, Dr. Koch’s first head and neck fellow, is also part of the ENT team at Kijabe Hospital where he also serves as the CEO of the hospital. Numerous other otolaryngologists, including Alan Johnson, MD, Michael Frederick Spafford, MD, and Jewel D. Greywoode, MD, have also volunteered as teaching faculty at PAACS programs across Africa and serve on the PAACS Head and Neck Council, which helps govern the PAACS head and neck fellowships.

The PAACS vision statement “envisions a growing number of African surgeons and related specialists living out the Gospel and ministering to the sick.” Keep reading to learn more about how you can contribute to this vision.