AN opportunity to study and work abroad, is one that is never missed or compromised as “pastures” are considered greener out there, but for an ex-Milton High School pupil, returning home was on top of his list.
Now a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Dr Tongai Chitsamatanga
is back in Bulawayo to practice at the just opened Cure International Hospital,
becoming the first pediatric orthopedic surgeon to return to Zimbabwe after
specialising abroad.
A pediatric orthopedic surgeon diagnoses, treats and
manages children with bone disorders. The common disorders include club foot,
bow legs and toe walking. Children with broken bones are also treated.
Sunday News caught up with Dr Chitsamatanga (41) on
Thursday last week just as he was preparing to go into surgery and got the
chance to trace his journey which began in the Midlands Province.
“I am an orthopedic surgeon. I specialised more in
pediatric orthopedics. I was born and bred in Gweru then moved to Bulawayo
where I was between 1995 and 1998 as I did my studies at Milton High School.
After that I went toHarare to Medical School where I graduated in 2004 at the
College of Health Sciences at the University of Zimbabwe.
“I did my internship of two years at Parirenyatwa Group of
Hospitals then proceeded to work at Mutambara Mission Hospital for six years. I
returned to Parirenyatwa to train in general orthopedics at the College of
Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa graduating in 2017,” he said.
After his general orthopedics training he went to the
United Kingdom in 2019 for a trauma and limb reconstruction fellowship.
“Initially I was at the Oxford University National Health
Service (NHS) Trust where I did six months of adult limb reconstruction and
another six months of adult trauma. I then moved to the University of Derby and
Burton NHS where I did a year of pediatric orthopedics training,” he said.
His homecoming has been described as historic as many of
his colleagues seldom return to practice back home citing lack of resources and
further opportunities among other things but Dr Chitsamatanga has defied the
odds.
“My home coming has been historic from the Zimbabwean
perspective in that there has been no pediatric orthopedic surgeon and so
before I even went to do the fellowship in pediatric orthopedics, I had shown
interest in helping children that had bone problems but of course the challenge
was that of resources, most of the children were coming from families where
their caregivers were not able to afford their treatment.
Going to train in that field and coming back has been
something that has been welcomed by most colleagues and patients that I had
dealt with before,” he said.
Dr Chitsamatanga said there are various reasons why people
decide to go outside the country, why some decide to stay and others to return.
“So, some people go for a few years and end up staying
longer for various reasons. It then takes a certain kind of person to say,
beyond the convenience that I am finding outside, there are certain things that
you also have to decide by yourself to say how am I going to effect change in
people’s lives, is it more satisfying to be helping out people who are not of
my country than those that are my countrymen. So, I think it’s for various
reasons that people stay outside or come back,” he said.
Asked about the opening of Cure Hospital in Bulawayo where
patients are treated for free, he said it was a milestone in the history of
health care.
“When I left for the UK, Cure Zimbabwe was just an idea and
then coming back two and a half years later and the hospital is there and
functional, for me it brings great joy.
As I said earlier, I have interacted with some of the
patients before and my hands were tied because we did not have the resources.
Then being in the UK and hearing that there is now some
movement on the ground, that the Government was partnering with other
stakeholders and coming together to make this dream, which was a dream of mine,
come to fruition was something that brought great joy. Coming back and seeing
the actual product has been amazing, job satisfaction wise, I must say I am
much more satisfied than I was when I was out there,” he said.
He said the resources were there abroad but he wanted to
come back home and help.
He said moving forward, his hope is that more specialists
and sub-specialists return to Zimbabwe to work.
“What I have realised is that you have to be on the ground
to push the agenda of your particular specialty. As long as you are outside the
country it is difficult to influence change, it is difficult to get the
equipment that you need, you just have to take the step of coming back home,
then advocate for other things.
“In the past two weeks there have been a number of young
colleagues that have qualified, I know of a pediatric cardiologist, one who has
just returned and is based at Mpilo Central Hospital, a pediatric nephrologist
based in Harare that also just returned and there is news of one of
cardiothoracic surgeons, the first in the country and one of five in Sub
Saharan Africa so all those people need to be supported,” said Dr
Chitsamatanga.
He also sang praises for the Second Republic that has
opened its wings to dialogue and development.
“What I have seen with the Second Republic, they are open
and as long as you articulate your vision, I believe that we will have more
institutions like this (Cure Hospital) because there is no better satisfaction
than being in a place in your own country which is well resourced and you are
able to treat patients without worrying whether they can afford or not, where
you provide equal opportunity for different patients of different back grounds.
We must advocate for our specialties and also be available
with our service then the funding follows you,” he added.
Cure Hospital executive director Mr Jonathan Simpson said
they were excited about Dr Chitsamatanga’s return.
“We are excited to have a surgeon with qualifications such
as these no matter what nationality they are. The fact that Dr Chitsamatanga is
a Zimbabwean makes it so much better. I hope his example will inspire other
Zimbabwean medical specialists to find ways of coming home, and I would
encourage the ministry to consider what other medical faculties can also enter
Public Private Partnerships,” he said.
He added: “We see him as being the first of hopefully many
specialists two want to return back to their country not only to bring their
services but also their hearts back to Zimbabwe to put back to the nation
skills that have been lacking for a long time.
We hope he advocates and brings more people to come back
home. I would like to encourage them to come and see how we are working and
replicate this in other fields of medicine because we are focusing on
orthopedics but there are many different fields that need to be brought to the
country.” Chronicle
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