About GEMA

global crisis, Doctor Kamunga was able to personally overcome such fears and continue to pursue residency training. Laurent has since graduated from the emergency medicine residency and is now an attending emergency medicine physician at a large local hospital in Kigali, Rwanda.

Doctor Kamunga’s experience completing emergency medicine training will likely resemble the stories of future trainees, as the specialty continues to grow in Eastern Africa and across the greater continent due to an expanding number of countries that have established training and residency programs. He views this as a success and expressed his hopes for continuous expansion in future years. Dr. Kamunga explained the existing lack of emergency physicians in many African countries, stating, “As long as I see more emergency medicine physicians being trained, it is a positive.”

Doctor Kamunga also articulated the uniqueness of practicing emergency medicine in Rwanda. He detailed that critical care management is a significant part of his work and the work of his colleagues, explaining, “our emergency department seems to be an ICU.”

Dr. Kamunga further explained that that there are insufficient numbers of ICU beds available in Rwanda, often causing congestion of patients and long wait times in the department. The existing insufficiency in ICU care leaves patients in the emergency department for extended periods of time, as Dr. Kamunga expressed, “there is nowhere for them to go.” While this challenge exists in Rwanda, it is also prevalent in emergency departments across numerous other African countries. However, Dr. Kamunga sees this as an opportunity for advocacy, stating, “if we have more training of EM physicians then they can save lives, not just through direct patient care but through advocacy for additional ICU beds and other necessary resources.” He summarized this point by quoting: “more emergency physicians means more people shouting for needed change.”

Doctor Kamunga articulated the value in emergency training, the benefits in expansion of trainings across the African continent, and the additional advantage of advocacy when more medical personnel receive such specialty training.

When looking toward the future, Doctor Kamunga Badibanga Laurent Gamy is excited to pursue emergency medicine through patient care and education. “I want to train people because this is a new specialty in Africa. I want to find a way to share my skills with future emergency physicians so they can think quickly, perform well, and save a life.”

About The Authors

Destry Jensen, MPH is a global health researcher and communications professional. She is an alumnus of Brown University, and a health journalist with numerous narrative pieces, news coverage, and research summaries from various regions including the United States, Sierra Leone, India, Rwanda, and more. @JensenDestry