"Solutions for Healthcare in Uganda"

This one-day, highly interactive conference aims to bring together individuals from Canada, the United States, and Uganda to present ongoing work and disucss how organizations and institutions in all of these countries can collaborate to improve healthcare in Uganda.

Among the topics to be explored are strategies to alleviate workforce shortages, innovative healthcare initiatives, and the roles of medical missions and academic collaborations. Conference speakers will present selected ongoing efforts in Uganda and participate in breakout sessions to discuss harmonization of efforts and strategies for collaboration.

This is the 5th Annual UNAMS Conference and the first time GPAS has co-hosted the event. GPAS was invited to partner with UNAMS for this annual event after presenting at the 4th Annual UNAMS Conference and discussing the great need for increased communication among all ongoing healthcare efforts (academic, philanthropic and otherwise) in Uganda. A focus of this year's conference will be strategizing promotion of communication and collaboration of efforts in Uganda and attracting growing participation in this annual conference.

UNAMS is a nonprofit organization started in 1998. Among its objectives are the desire to foster unity and collegiality among physicians and dentist who have an interest in Uganda and to channel assistance into Ugandan institutions and individuals in the medical community in an organized manner.

GPAS was formed in 2006 through a multidisciplinary effort of medical professionals and trainees from UCSF, University of Toronto, Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital, Makerere University's Mulago Hospital, and numerous other hopitals and universities around the world. With non-profit status through affiliation with UCSF and the UCSF foundation, GPAS aims to develop and implement strategies to reduce the global burden of surgical disease and to improve the quality of perioperative care in the developing world.

8:00 - 8:30 - Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 - 8:45 - Opening Remarks
-Doruk Ozgediz, MD, Laura Goetz, MD - GPAS & Frank Matovu MBChB, MPH, DTMH - UNAMS

8:45 - 9:30 - "Surgical Disease Burden in Uganda"
- Dr. Cephas Mijumbi, Professor Mulago Hospital Department of Anesthesia, Makerere University

9:30 - 11:30 - Session One - "The Role of Academic Collaborations and Medical Missions"

• Moderators:
  -Mbaga Walusimbi, MD, MS, FACS - Assistant Professor of Surgery, Wright State University
-Gerald Dubowitz, MD - Department of Anesthesia, UCSF

• "iGOT: Institute for Global Orthopedics & Traumatology"
  -Rick Coughlin, M.D., MSc (UCSF - Orthopaedics)
• "USTOP: Ugandan Sustainable Trauma Orthopaedic Program"
  -Piotr Blachut MD FRCSC (University of British Columbia - Orthopaedics)
• "Collaborations in Anesthesia Education"
  -Hamed Umedaly, MD (University of British Columbia - Anesthesia)
• "Makerere University-JHU Research Collaboration: International Injury Research in Uganda"
  -Abdulgafoor M. Bachani, MHS (Johns Hopkins University - School of Public Health)
• "GPAS: Global Partners in Anesthesia and Surgery"
  -Kayvan Roayaie, MD (General Surgery - UCSF)

- Coffee Break



• "Duke Anesthesia and Surgery at Mulago"
  -Becky Schroeder, MD (Department of Anestheisa, Duke University)
• "AAGBI: Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland - Work in Uganda"
  -Isabeau Walker, MD (Department of Anestheisa, Great Ormond Street children’s London)

11:30 - 12:15 - Discussion Panel One - "Harmonization of Academic Collaborations"

• Chair:
  - Dr. Cephas Mijumbi, Professor Mulago Hospital Department of Anesthesia, Makerere University

12:15 - 13:15 - Lunch (Included with registration fee)

13:15 - 15:00 - Session Two - "Innovative Healthcare Initiatives in Uganda and Beyond "

• Moderator:
  -Dr. Edith Senyumba, MD, MPH (UNAMS)


• "Challenges Providing Surgical Care for Children in Sub-Saharan Africa"
  -Stephen Bickler, M.D., F.A.C.S. (Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics, UCSD)
• "Infrastructure Rebuilding in Uganda"
  -Paul Bollinger, MPH, Emergency Medical Care Senior Advisor - Medical Teams International
• "Infectious disease successes and challenges"
  - Grant Dorsey, MD, PhD - UCSF/SFGH Division of Infectious Disease (bio)
• "Successes and Challenges for Biomedical Engineering Support in Uganda"
  -Keita Ikeda, PhD (Duke University)
• "Surgery in Resource Poor Settings - the obstetrics perspective"
  -Felicia Lester, MD (Fellow, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital)
• "Overcoming Challenges for TB Diagnosis in Uganda"
  -Adithya Cattamanchi, MD (Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care, UCSF)
• "Breast Cancer Screening in Uganda"
  -Fred Okuku MD, MMed
• "Population Trends in Uganda. Public Health Implications"
  -Fabio Banegura, MD, MSc, FACIP
• "Uses of Health Information Technologies in Resource Poor Settings"
  -Michael Lipnick, MD (Resident, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital)

15:00 - 15:15 - Break

15:15 - 16:15 - Discussion Panel Two - "Innovative Approaches for Appropriately Prioritizing the Surgical Disease Burden on the Global Health Agenda"

• Chair:
  - Doruk Ozgediz MD, MPH, Pediatric Surgery Fellow, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto

16:15 - 17:00 - "The changing global health workforce, addressing areas of crisis as well as opportunities for improvement"
-Dr. Tom Hall MD, DrPH - UCSF (bio)

17:00- 17:10 - Closing remarks and Discussion for Future Directions
-Dr. Gerald Dubowitz - GPAS

17:10 - 19:30 - Closing Reception & Continued Discussion (Golden Gate Room - UCSF Library)

In place of the previously scheduled conference dinner, we have arranged to provide drinks and appetizers in the Golden Gate Room on the UCSF Parnassus Campus. We hope this venue will provide additional opportunities for conference participants to meet and share ideas. Refunds for the dinner fee are being processed.

Conference Fees, Travel, & Hotel

Conference Fees/RSVP

The conference fee is $100 and includes breakfast and lunch.

***FREE for residents, medical students and fellows with email registration to partners@globalpas.org.

Please register online via Paypal or download mailing registration form.

Conference Hotels

Hotel Kabuki - $109/night - Website
Hotel Tomo - $99/night - Website
San Francisco Marriott Marquis - $110/night - Website
Stanyan Park Hotel 10% discount if attending conference at UCSF - Website
Fairmont Hotel $259/night - Website

Maps and Directions

Click the map to download a larger view or click here for other UCSF maps and directions.

*Conference program subject to change

Please contact us at partners@globalpas.org to register or obtain more information.