Access to life-changing care will improve for children with cleft lip, cleft palate, and other head and neck malformations in Ethiopia thanks to a first-of-its-kind fellowship created with the guidance of two kid experts in the ear, nose and throat (ENT) and facial plastic surgery program at Children’s Minnesota.
Under the leadership of Dr. Siva Chinnadurai, pediatric otolaryngologist at Children’s Minnesota and M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital and board chair of Children’s Surgery International (CSI), the first Pediatric Otolaryngology and Facial Plastic Surgery Fellowship in Ethiopia has been launched in collaboration with Bahir Dar University (BDU). Dr. Brianne Roby, pediatric otolaryngologist at Children’s Minnesota and board member at CSI, collaborated with the fellowship development.
“Currently, there is only one pediatric otolaryngologist in all of Ethiopia, a nation with roughly 48 million children under the age of 18,” said Dr. Chinnadurai. “With the creation of this fellowship, CSI and BDU will share the honor and responsibility of training the first of many generations of Ethiopian subspecialist surgeons to focus on life-threatening and disfiguring head and neck conditions.”
Children’s Surgery International (CSI) is a Minnesota-based, nonprofit volunteer organization that provides free medical and surgical services to children in some of the most resource constrained areas of the world. CSI also provides hand-on, sustainable, foundational medical training to local surgical teams, doctors, and nurses.
“We look forward to this journey beyond self-sufficiency and the great hope it will bring to the children of Ethiopia’s future,” said Dr. Chinnadurai.
