Training of surgeons in Kenya at the University of Nairobi teaching hospital.

OBJECTIVE To determine the number of surgeons trained by the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, since its inception in 1967. DESIGN This was a retrospective (1975-1987) and prospective study (1988-1999). SETTING Kenyatta National Hospital, a National Referral Hospital and University of Nairobi Teaching Hospital. SUBJECTS All surgeons trained by the Department of Surgery of the University of Nairobi for postgraduate MMed in general surgery, anaesthesia, ENT surgery and ophthalmology from 1975 to March 1999. RESULTS Two hundred and eighty-five surgeons with Master of Medicine degree were trained by the Department of Surgery of the University of Nairobi between 1975 and March 1999. They included 181 (63.51%) general surgeons; 46 (16.14%) anaesthetists; 35 (12.28%) ophthalmologists and 23 (8.07% ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeons. One hundred and seventy-six, (61.75%) were from retrospective studies; 94 (32.98%) were from prospective studies while 15 (5.26%) were from both retrospective and prospective studies. Two hundred and thirty-two (81.40%) surgeons were Kenyans while 53 (18.60%) were foreigners. The majority, 42 (79.24%) of the foreigners were from other African countries. Thirty one (58.50%) were from neighbouring Uganda, Sudan, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Zambia. There was also one PhD in anaesthesia and one MD in urology during the same period. CONCLUSION The University of Nairobi, Department of Surgery based at Kenyatta National Hospital has played a very significant and leading role in the training of surgeons for Kenya and even other African and foreign countries since its inception. Of the forty surgeons who constitute the academic staff in the Departments of General Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery and Ophthalmology of the University of Nairobi, thirty-five surgeons (87.50%) have been trained by the Faculty of Medicine at KNH.