Surgeon Ahuka Ona Longombe Reports on His Time at the University of Maastricht

Ahuka Ona Longombe, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Surgery
University of Kisangani
Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ahuka Longombe, a 2003 FAIMER Fellow, has been a pioneer in rural health delivery and research, and has reported on his field research to identify alternative surgical materials and equipment in resource constrained rural settings. These strategies include the use of headlights for illumination, fishing line for sutures, locally distilled alcohol as an antiseptic, and placentas as skin grafts following mastectomies. Dr. Longombe has also been a pioneer in introducing rural medicine to students at the University of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 80% of the DRC’s population is served by only 20% of the country’s physicians. His findings show that the problems faced in rural areas appear to attract, rather than discourage the students.

Dr. Longombe has just returned from the Netherlands, where he attended the first on-site session of his FAIMER-sponsored fellowship to study for a Masters in Health Professions Education at the University of Maastricht. This two-year Masters program comprises a residential session in the Netherlands each year and approximately 22 months of distance learning from the candidate’s home institution via the Internet. The curriculum includes units devoted to the nature of learning, curriculum and instruction, assessment and evaluation, organization and management, basic and advanced research, design of authentic learning environments, professional development of teachers, and a Masters thesis. He writes of his experience, "I want to thank you very much for this opportunity... I am sure that it will be very helpful for the future of medical education at DR Congo."