Graduation

We were privileged to attend the graduation of the 16th intern class from Tenwek Hospital last weekend. When we decided to come to Tenwek, we were both excited that educating interns and medical students would be one of our responsibilities. We give lectures as well as teach on the wards and in the operating rooms. We have thoroughly enjoyed teaching the interns and feel we have learned a lot from them as well.

Both clinical and medical officers comprise the intern class. The clinical officers (CO) are equivalent to physician's assistants in the US and the medical officers (MO) have completed medical school. After they complete a one year internship, the COs will often work in outpatient settings, while the MOs are placed by the government to district hospitals in Kenya. The MOs function as ob/gyns, internists, pediatricians, and occasionally surgeons after spending only 3 months on each of these rotations. After the MOs complete one to two years of work at a district hospital, than they can return for residency training. Funding for their education is usually difficult and they need to be sponsored by the government or a private source to return for residency training.

A new group of interns have now started. The first week has been busy and challenging. However, seeing their eagerness to learn and their willingness to work hard have been so rewarding.