Anesthesiology Resident Dr. Nadar Travels to Kigali to Teach Rwandan Residents

Dr. Vinayak Nadar, a resident in the University of Minnesota Medical School Department of Anesthesiology, accompanied by Dr. Megan Olejniczak spent four weeks on rotation in Kigali, Rwanda teaching anesthesia residents on a variety of topics and skills in the operating room and through simulation.

“I have always been interested in the practice of medicine in resource-poor countries, and was even more motivated when I learned that several of our attendings regularly serve in outreach programs in countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, and India,” said Dr. Nadar.

The trip was funded through a partnership between the Department of Anesthesiology and the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society International Education Foundation. Over the past decade, the Canadian Anesthesiologists Society has partnered with the training program in the capital city of Kigali to support foreign volunteers in Rwanda due to the country’s lack of medical personnel, especially anesthesiologists.

“Using the clinical and didactic skills learned during my residency, I was afforded the opportunity to actively engage residents with varying skill levels in the safe application of anesthesia with limited resources,” said Dr. Nadar, “Being seen as an attending and working closely with anesthesia trainees in challenging and austere conditions helped develop my teaching skills. Most importantly, this experience fostered a long term passion for training and advancing the practice of anesthesia in under-served and resource-poor nations.”

Learn more about global health initiatives in the University of Minnesota Medical School Department of Anesthesiology.