Vicent Bakyenga

Vicent Bakyenga

In 2007, the Chalker Foundation took the decision to sponsor a medical student called Vicent Bakyenga from Uganda. Vicent was a medical student at Kigezi International School of Medicine based in the UK.   He was chosen as one of only two scholarship students from Uganda.  Unfortunately halfway through his studies the Medical School closed down and Vicent was left unable to complete his medical degree.  He was accepted by the Medical University of Lodz in Poland. On the recommendation of one of the advisers to the Foundation, Professor Peter Abrahams, the Foundation agreed to give Vicent financial support.

Vicent’s ambition is to become a neurosurgeon.  He recalls that when he was young he saw a man come into a health clinic he was volunteering in with head injuries who was allowed to bleed to death and was told that there was no point in taking him to a hospital because there were no neurosurgeons to treat him. There are still thousands of tragedies such as this every day.

Vicent graduated with flying colours in 2009 and spent several months working as a volunteer in the department of neurosurgery while waiting for his pre-registration intership at the Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala.  Here is an extract from a report of his time there:

"One of the patients was Timothy Kiyingi, a 22 year old, who was involved in the tragic bombs that rocked Kampala on the 11th of July 2010. He was brought into hospital bleeding profusely and unconscious.  He had to have two operations on his brain and endure a long grueling time in hospital supported by family, friends, former teachers and the ward staff. He may have regained consciousness only recently as I was joining the team but the fact that he still maintains his curiosity, humor and sense of kindness is testimony that a lot of good is being done by professionals working with minimal resources and am sure that we can achieve more as Africa works to make service delivery in this sector better. I can only imagine that the sky is the limit in terms of how many lives can be saved once things get better". 

" In my view, Africa has always been 'playing catch up' in many areas for a long time. Governments and development partners are now starting to invest in infrastructure and making drugs available to all thanks to the Millennium Development Goal targets.  However the emphasis must remain in greater investment in training highly qualified health workers if the African health care system is to rise up to the task of providing quality health care for all and essentially saving lives  "
Dr Vicent Bakyenga (August 10)