HeForShe: COSECSA Scholars

Current data indicate there are only 0.5 surgeons for every 100,000 people. Although women make up more than 50 percent of the population, they represent only 7 percent of the surgical workforce. To help address this problem, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA) have developed a scholarship program to support women in surgical residency, help them complete their training, and encourage other women in medicine to consider surgery as a profession. The ACS and COSECSA Women Scholars Program supports women surgeons in their final year of residency to complete training and to encourage other women in medicine to consider surgery as a profession. The scholarship is supported jointly by the ACS and the Hellman Grant through the Association of Women Surgeons Foundation (AWS Foundation).

The ACS, through Operation Giving Back, annually awards several scholarships to women surgeons in east, central, and southern Africa, and has invited two of the award recipients to discuss mentorship relationships and opportunities as well as barriers and gaps they have encountered along their journey.

Moderator

Abebe Bekele, MD, FACS
Prof. Abebe Bekele is the deputy vice chancellor of Academic and Research Affaires and dean of the school of medicine at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Rwanda. He is a professor of surgery (general and thoracic surgery) at UGHE and has full professor positions at the Addis Ababa University and the University of Rwanda. He has served as CEO of the Tikur Anbessa (Black Lion) teaching hospital and dean of the school of medicine at the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.

Guest Speaker

Hilary A. Sanfey, MB BCh, MHPE, FACS, FRCSI, FRCSEd(Hon)
Dr. Hilary A. Sanfey is the Emeritus Professor of Surgery, SIU School of Medicine Department of Surgery; Co-Chair of the ACS Certificate in Applied Surgical Education Leadership (CASEL) Program; Past President of the Association of Women Surgeons, and Past First Vice-President of the ACS.

Florence Umurangawa Ngarambe, MD
Dr. Florence Umurangawa Ngarambe is a junior consultant urologist at King Faisal Hospital in Rwanda. She is also the chair of the Association of Women in Surgery, Rwanda, and the treasurer of the Rwanda Surgical Society. She recently completed her masters of medicine degree at the University of Rwanda. Her entrance into the urology field is rather unheard of in her country, and she hopes that through her presence and example, she can lead more young women into the field.

Precious Gamuchirai Mutambanengwe, MBChB
Dr. Mutambanengwe obtained her MBChB degree from the University of Zimbabwe, Harare, in 2012 and is now a fifth-year COSECSA pediatric surgery trainee. Since 2015, Dr. Mutambanengwe has been the surgery registrar, department of surgery, Harare Central Hospital. She was the 2019 president of the Zimbabwe Association of Surgeons in Training and now serves as a committee member for the Surgical Society of Zimbabwe. Dr. Mutambanengwe also is a mentor with the Cultiv8 Africa organization.

Hosted by the American College of Surgeons International Relations Committee.