3: PAACS – COSECSA Partnership and Working in Sub-Saharan Africa

Off The Table: A Global Surgery Podcast

This week we are ecstatic to be joined by the renowned Dr. Dieudonne Lemfuka, a general surgeon from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dr. Lemfuka is passionately involved in surgery, surgical education, global surgery advocacy, and Christian SIM missionary work. Dieudonne received his medical training from the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) out of the Bongolo Hospital program in Gabon. He is a certified Fellow by the College of Surgeons of the East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA). He currently works and resides in Monrovia, Liberia, as a General Surgeon and Surgical Education Coordinator at ELWA Hospital.

Tune in to immerse oneself in Dieudonne’s captivating memoir. Together we delve into his humble beginnings and navigate through the series of obstacles he’s conquered throughout his journey. After touching on some of his inspirations for pursuing surgical care, Dieudonne expresses his admiration for the organizations COSECSA and PAACS. He highlights the shared visions between the two, as well as the equitable opportunity for salvation that they provide financially-limited physicians with. Dieudonne articulates his concerns with doctor shortages in Liberia which lead to physician burnout. Fervidly speaking on the critical challenges that surgeons face when working in demanding environments in underdeveloped regions. Nonetheless, he remains optimistic regarding the future of these challenges and is committed to providing and teaching widespread, affordable, and high-quality surgical care. We then shift gears and discuss some of his thought-provoking contributions to academia, as well as his advocacy for equality of surgical care throughout Africa. He touches on his work as a Christian missionary, before providing us with one of the most compelling definitions of global surgery that we’ve received from a guest to date.

To hear more from Dr. Dieudonne Lemfuka, watch him present his webinar “Training Christian Surgeons: An Answer to the Surgical Need in Africa” at the Samaritan’s Purse International Health Forum.

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