Why I keep coming back

Today was a great reminder of why I keep coming back to Rwanda. Academic day is a complete pleasure. One could not ask for more keen learners.

In the old days, the residency program was very small. No one wanted to go into anesthesia. Now there are 30 residents in years 1-3 but no 4th year residents. The large group has required a lot of attention to logistics but the program has now settled into a good pattern. The residents are sent preparation question and reading in advance. This allows them to arrive for academic day well prepare and ready for challenges.

There is always a Rwandan resident and staff assigned to teach at academic day. By sharing the teaching, all of us improve our skills. It was an honour to share this session with Alain (resident) and Gaston (staff anesthesiologist). I have known Gaston since he started residency, so it is great to see him as the respected staff person. He and Alain did a fantastic job with lots of great twists.

For example, one of the residents was giving a fairly convoluted explanation of something, so we encouraged the residents to be more precise and direct. Gaston, who is great at thinking on his feet, said “if you want to go to Nyabugogo market (big bus depot), you don’t from here to… (then he listed about 4 Kigali suburbs) because by the time you get to Nyabugogo you will have missed the bus to Butare”. This was such a wonderful example of adapting an idea to the Rwandan context.

Franco, who was the CASIEF Chair for many years and who developed the Rwanda program, made a short visit to greet the residents. It was a wonderful moment. I have worked with him for years and remember well the struggles we had in recruiting and developing the program. Today he walked in to see a group of 30 attentive residents in the sim centre. He gave a little speech about our partnership and why anesthesia is such an important specialty. It was very moving. He must have been pleased to see the fruition of his labours.

Franco, Daniel, Luke and I finished a delightful day with a meal at Heaven. How appropriate. Yvon is on the plane back to Halifax. Stewart and Ally will visit the CHUK OR tomorrow and Michelle, Adam and I are off to Day 1 of the VAST Course. Very happy.