We are pleased to share the reflections of Dr. Franck K. Sikakulya, MD, MMed, a Congolese neurosurgery trainee based in Uganda who is starting his final year of the COSECSA Fellowship (FCS) in Neurosurgery. He recently completed a six-month elective rotation at the Muhimbili Orthopaedic and Neurosurgical Institute (MOI) in Tanzania.
During the rotation, Dr. Sikakulya learned from consultants, fellows, residents, nurses, theatre staff and the wider multidisciplinary team, and was exposed to a broad range of neurosurgical practice. The MOI team was open to teaching, shared their experience, discussed challenging cases, and involved him in day-to-day clinical work.
Beyond clinical and technical skills, the experience deepened his appreciation of teamwork, dedication and resilience, and of the importance of compassionate, accessible neurosurgical care in Africa.
“I leave MOI with not only new knowledge and skills, but also a renewed sense of purpose.”
Dr. Sikakulya hopes to apply what he learned to strengthen neurosurgical services in his own setting and to contribute to better neurosurgical care across Africa. He also hopes the rotation marks the start of a lasting professional relationship with MOI, with future collaboration and knowledge exchange.
We thank MOI for hosting him and for investing time and expertise in his training. Experiences like this reflect what we value at COSECSA: surgical training built on collaboration across Africa.