Surgery is regarded as the most challenging of any medical specialty. It requires long hours, heavy reading, plenty of practice, and a ton of mental energy.
Despite this, there are a number of women that have taken the challenge on. These are not only improving the country's healthcare, but their determination can pave the way for their fellow women to go into the medical field.
In this article, The New Times briefly profiles the top 5 female surgeons in Rwanda.
Dr. Claire Karekezi (First female Rwandan neurosurgeon)
Dr. ClaireKarekezi (born 1982) is the first woman neurosurgeon in Rwanda, and one of the six neurosurgeons in the country.
She works as a Consultant Neurosurgeon at the Rwanda Military Hospital where she specializes in neuro oncology and skull-base surgery, in addition to being a Senior lecturer of Surgery at the University of Rwanda (UR), School of Medicine and Pharmacy.
Born in Huye in the Southern Province, she attended primary and secondary school in Kigali. In 2002 she was admitted to University of Rwanda's College of Medicine and Health Sciences, where she graduated with honors in General Medicine in 2009.
In 2011, she was admitted at the University Mohamed V/World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) reference center in Rabat, Morocco for the training of African neurosurgeons, graduating as a neurosurgeon in 2016.
She was further enrolled in several neurosurgical fellowships with a special interest in Neuro-Oncology at the Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School (Massachusetts, USA), as an International Visiting Surgeon Fellow (2016).
Dr. Karekezi later completed a clinical fellowship (2017/2018) in Neuro-Oncology & Skull Base Surgery at the University of Toronto, Toronto Western Hospital (Canada).
In August 2018, she returned to Rwanda as the country's first female neurosurgeon.
She started her practice at the Rwanda Military Hospital in January, 2019.
Besides the clinical work she does, she tries to raise awareness about the need for more experienced female neurosurgeons in order to assist young women in overcoming various obstacles inherent to the field.
Dr. Alice Niragire (First female Rwandan general surgeon)
Dr. Niragire (born 1982), works at the Kigali University Teaching Hospital (CHUK), managing acute care surgery (ACS) cases and planned ones sometimes. Besides that, she teaches medical students and surgical residents.
She is a survivor of the genocide against the Tutsi, a tragedy in which both her parents died.
She attended Nyarurama Primary School in Ruhango district and later on went to Byimana Science School in the same district, where she specialised in bio-chemistry.
After this, she joined the National University of Rwanda (current UR) in 2004, where she studied General Medicine for six years on a government scholarship.
She graduated as a general surgeon from the University of Rwanda (UR) in 2015 and became the country's first female surgeon. She started her practice at Rwamagana Hospital where she worked for one year, managing many surgical cases.
In 2016, she joined CHUK where she is until now.
Dr. Françoise Mukagaju (First female Rwandan plastic surgeon)
Dr. Mukagaju is a consultant plastic surgeon at King Faisal Hospital. She deals with reconstructive surgery for trauma defects and post cancer resection defects, congenital hand malformations, cleft lip and cleft palate, burns treatment and so on.
"I wish I could be an inspiration to more women. There are not many in surgery in my country - compared to our male colleagues we are still few in numbers and I wish that I become an inspiration to other women so that more and more of them become plastic surgeons and general surgeons," she said in an interview with Operation Smile, an organisation focusing on treating cleft lip.
"So the first barrier is the mindset. We've been used to the fact that surgery is for men and it requires a lot of work, a lot of time. You have to be in the hospital most of the time, you have to be waking up in the night and go to the hospital," she added.
Dr. Gisele Bunogerane Juru (First female Rwandan pediatric surgery fellow)
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Dr. Juru is a junior consultant in general surgery at CHUK. She is one of the first female general surgeons in the country, and the first female pediatric surgeon trained entirely in Rwanda.
She has strong interest in neonatal surgical conditions, as well as surgical neonatal intensive care.
She has previously been involved in research around surgical education, surgical site infections, and surgical intensive care mortality.
Dr. Grace Kansayisa (First female Rwandan orthopedic surgeon)
Dr. Kasanyisa is an orthopedic surgeon working at CHUK, where she is the head of service in the orthopedic Unit.
She completed her Masters of Medicine at the University of Rwanda in 2021 and was the only woman in her cohort. Currently, she is the only female orthopedic surgeon in Rwanda among 35 orthopedic surgeons serving 13 million people.
She holds a fellowship in orthopedic surgery from the College of Surgeons from East Central and Central Africa (COSECSA) in 2020.
Dr. Kansayisa says she is interested in designing the first orthopedic simulation center where residents will conduct orthopedic procedures taught in a safe and conducive environment.
