Global Impact of CHOP Radiology: The 2023 Outreach in Ethiopia
Published on
In 2008, a partnership was established between the Department of Radiology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH)/Addis Ababa University (AAU), in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the aim of supporting pediatric radiology education during radiology residency at TASH. This partnership further led to the establishment of the CHOP-AAU Pediatric Radiology Fellowship Program at TASH. This two-year fellowship is the first of its kind worldwide.
Pictured left to right: Dr. Kassa Darge; Dr. Daniel Zewdneh; Drs. Fethia Salah, Samuel Sisay and Abrehet Gebreselassi; Dr. Yocabel Gorfu, and Dr. Hansel Otero.
The Fellowship Program graduated the first two pediatric radiologists — Drs. Yocabel Gorfu and Daniel Zewdneh — in 2017. Three more graduates have now completed their training, bringing the total number of pediatric radiologists to five in a country with a population of 120 million, 60% of whom are in the pediatric age group. One new pediatric radiology fellow has been enrolled in the program this year.
In February 2023, the CHOP Global Pediatric Radiology Outreach and Education Program hosted a series of events in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The first was a graduation ceremony for the three newest pediatric radiology fellowship graduates, Drs. Fathia Salah, Samuel Sisay and Abrehet Gebreselassie.
Attendees of the 11th Annual Pediatric Radiology Conference and CME
On February 26, about 200 people attended the 11th Annual Pediatric Radiology Conference. It was the first time the meeting was held in person in two years due to COVID. This day-long educational conference was jointly organized by the Radiological Society of Ethiopia, AAU and CHOP.
The conference consisted of three sessions and 11 presentations by CHOP and TASH faculty, and offered four CME credits. Topics included pediatric body and musculoskeletal imaging and neuroradiology, and the sessions incorporated a range of imaging modalities including MRI, CT and ultrasound. The “Unknown Case Competition” — with six poster cases exhibited around the conference hall — was highly popular, with more than 40 answer submissions throughout the day to claim the prize of an Apple iPad. Dr. Adamu Tigabu, a final-year radiology resident from St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was the winner.
Dr. Kassa Darge presenting a didactic lecture at TASH.
The visit culminated in a two-week initiative to support pediatric radiology teaching for residents at TASH and St. Paul’s, two of the largest teaching hospitals in the country, with a total of almost 130 radiology residents. Over the span of two weeks, faculty from CHOP — including Dr. Kassa Darge, Radiologist-in-Chief and Chair at CHOP, Noor, Otero, Alizai, Baillie, Dr. Hermon Miliard Derbew rotated between leading didactic lectures, bedside pulmonary artery catheterization (PACS) teaching, ultrasound hands-on training and case reviews.
Residents at both institutions indicated that they benefited greatly from these educational endeavors. The experience also benefited CHOP faculty; they were able to see cases that are uncommon in our part of the world, experience a different institution, and enjoy the scenery and the culture of Ethiopia, including the famous Ethiopian coffee!