Urogynecology Fellowship — Ethiopia
A collaboration between the Worldwide Fistula Fund, Ayder Comprehensive Specialist Hospital (ACSH), the Center for Global Health & Social Responsibility at the University of Minnesota, the College of Health Sciences at Mekelle University (MU), The Fewsi Foundation, and Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia
Surgical Training
Accredited WFF medical training programs are administered through Mekelle University in Ethiopia. As a Fulbright Scholar, WFF Founder Dr. Lewis Wall, spent 7 months of 2014 at MU identifying medical training gaps. Under his leadership and in collaboration with Board Members Dr. Spitznagle and Dr. Nardos, WFF developed high quality medical education programs at Mekelle University to advance health equity in northern Ethiopia. All programs were funded by a remarkable $550,000 gift from the Mike and Lynn Coatney Family Foundation Fund. We are grateful and proud to share our accomplishments with this 2013-2023 investment.
Many programs grew out of our annual Mekelle Medical Education Collaboration conferences (2013-19, MMEC) which “trained the trainers” to assume leadership after WFF’s investment phase ended.
Our MMEC conferences supported development of the Ob-Gyn Residency Program (2013-19) which is ongoing. Specialized training and services developed at the Gestational Trophoblastic Disease Center (2015-19) have been moved under the Ob-Gyn department. Physical Therapy Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs (2017-23) developed by Dr. Spitznagle are now primarily taught by graduates (12), one of whom was named PT Clinical Director at ACSH. ICU-Critical Care training (2018-19) has developed into ICU Director Dr Ataklti’s oversight of medical and surgical ICUs.
Our investment in Ethiopia’s first Urogynecology Fellowship Program (2016-23), launched in partnership with Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, Maternal Health Fund and Oregon Health & Science University, has had the most profound impact on female pelvic medicine in the region. Seven (7) graduates to date have completed 4,300+ procedures during training and have since returned to their institutions with advanced surgical skills. These graduates exponentially increase women’s healthcare capacity in Ethiopia while training new Fellows.
Both the 2020 pandemic and 2020-2022 Tigray war posed disruptions, but WFF remained engaged with the professionals on the ground.
New Partnership and Relaunch of the Fellowship
In 2025, the fellowship was reestablished for 2025-2028, with a new set of partners assisting in the continued capacity building and exceptional training of new urogynecologists in Ethiopia.
This program is made possible by: Worldwide Fistula Fund, Ayder Comprehensive Specialist Hospital (ACSH), the Center for Global Health & Social Responsibility at the University of Minnesota, the College of Health Sciences at Mekelle University (MU), The Fewsi Foundation, and Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia.
