MASTER OF MEDICINE IN NEUROSURGERY

The Master of Medicine in Neurosurgery program aims at enhancing the practice of Neurosurgery throughout Kenya and the East, Central and Southern African region by improving on patient management at the primary care level. The knowledge and skills acquired during the training will consolidate the competency of the neurosurgeons and enable them to meet challenges in patient care, research and leadership in the field.

Surgical training in Neurosurgery at the University of Nairobi is premised on a solid background in basic science and practical clinical knowledge, which provides opportunities for training of highly qualified and competent surgeons to serve the Kenyan population as well as have a global impact. All surgical residents receive extensive training in preoperative evaluation in the clinic and hospital settings, intraoperative technique, postoperative, critical care management, and follow-up care. Residents rotate through several units within Kenyatta National Hospital and other hospitals, allowing for diversity, breadth and depth of training. In these training settings, the surgical residents are taught, supervised and evaluated by surgical faculty. Operative and non-operative patient care training is provided with appropriate levels of supervision by faculty members to promote progressive autonomy of trainees that is consistent with University policy.

Philosophy

The teaching of Neurosurgery will be premised on learner-oriented teaching principles, with emphasis on creating an environment that allows learners to create links between that which they know and the new connections they need to create. We aim to provide an environment conducive to learning, knowledge that will help them in patient-care, materials, opportunities, and feedback that will help them learn, and help in motivating residents to be successful both in their studies and in applying their knowledge in their practice.

The development of a mature and professional approach in clinical practice is essential for safe and successful patient care. Attitudes towards patients and colleagues, work ethic, ability to deal with stressful issues and the effectiveness of communication skills in providing supportive care for patients and their families are the professional qualities expected of successful candidates in this program.

Rationale of the programme

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least one Neurosurgeon for every 200,000 people. On the contrary, Kenya has a ratio of one neurosurgeon for every five million people. This program will therefore assist in training Neurosurgeons to provide services at the provincial level where, none are currently available and meet the objectives of The Kenya Government National Health Sector Strategic Plan to decentralize specialist services and improve health care. Graduates of the program will be engaged in the academic, public and private sector, International Health Organizations and other areas in need of neurosurgical services.

Recent technological advances in surgery have made it necessary to review surgical postgraduate training worldwide. This has been adopted in the Surgical Training programs of North America, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and South Africa. The programs are structured to offer a Common Foundation Course in Surgical Pathology, Surgical Anatomy, Surgical Physiology and Principles of Surgery for all the Surgical Specialities during the first two years of training. Successful completion of the Foundation Course is necessary before one can proceed to further specialist training in General Surgery, Otolaryngology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (all 3 years) and Neurosurgery (4 years).

The goal of surgical training is to produce surgeons who are capable of practising independently, delivering safe and high-quality surgical care, and meeting the surgical needs of the community at large. This process involves building the anatomic and pathophysiologic fund of knowledge required to understand surgical disease, acquiring and refining the cognitive and technical skills required to correct it, and developing the clinical judgment and decision-making necessary to know when to exercise it. Integral to this process is the graduated independence or progressive autonomy afforded to trainees as they transition to the independent provision of safe, high-quality surgical care.

The revised MMed Neurosurgery program will offer new courses in Molecular Biology and Research Methods, Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Neuroendoscopy and Functional Neurosurgery. This will give the graduates a good foundation on the scientific basis of the practice of neurosurgery. The revised program will also produce graduates who will be conversant with the current advances in medical technology necessary for the safe practice of surgery.