Haramaya

The population of Ethiopia has grown to about 117,000,000 people, and, until recently, has had a total of about 100 specialist anesthesiologists. With CASIEF’s strong role in supporting the anesthesiology program at Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, it has been apparent that more programs need to be developed across this vast country in order to assist with the massive demand for anesthesiologists. Haramaya University College of Health and Medical Sciences is situated in the Harar area of Ethiopia, 525 km east of Addis Ababa. Until 2020, there were no anesthesiologists and only few ORs running in the existing hospital (staffed by non-physician anesthetists), as well as a separate maternity hospital. A new 1000 bed hospital has recently been constructed, which includes 15 ORs. Haramaya recently partnered with the faculty from the School of Medicine, Queen’s University, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, to assist in the development of three new residency programs, including Oncology, Emergency Medicine and Anesthesiology. CASIEF has joined the anesthesiology arm of this project, which officially launched in 2021. This year a second cohort of 10 residents will be joining the 4 current residents to commence their PGY1 training.

During the pandemic, we have been supporting this new program with online lectures, as well as joint Case Management Rounds with the first year residents from Black Lion. In 2022, CASIEF will restart sending volunteers and Fellows to Ethiopia, and both Addis and Haramaya programs will benefit from our skilled and dedicated Canadian educators.