Kilimanjaro Medical Center

Located on the Eastern coast of Africa, Tanzania is the largest East African nation. Kenya sits to the North and Mozambique lies to the South. The coast of Tanzania is humid and warm with frequent monsoons, while the North is mountainous and cold. Ecologically, Tanzania is culturally rich, with more than 120 ethnic groups that have a strong family-centered culture. Kilimanjaro Christian medical center, located near the city of Moshi (2,953 feet or 900 meters above sea level) in northeastern Kenya on the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, is an excellent location from which to experience the culture of this fascinating nation.

Become familiar with Tanzania’s culture, history and economy by reviewing the Wikipedia Tanzania Profile. Rich resources for Tanzania health information include the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation IHME Tanzania Country Profile and the World Health Organization Global Health Observatory Tanzania Data.

Most patients coming to the medical center are traditional Africans from the Chagga or Masai people groups who make a living through farming or guest services. Almost all have a very low income, cannot pay for their medical services, and continue to practice traditional healing practices. Patients suffer from diseases typical for East Africa: malaria, diarrheal diseases, rheumatic fever, and malnutrition. They commonly present late in the disease process when complications are much greater.

Most all patients speak Swahili, but the primary language of teaching and medical recording are in English. Thus, the hospital staff is fluent in English. Translation may be needed with patients but is readily available.

Kilimanjaro Medical Center is a full-service 457-bed hospital with a catchment area of some 11 million people. It was established in 1971 as an institution of the Good Samaritan Foundation and now is funded by the Tanzanian government and private donations. Annually, the hospital has approximately 20,500 admissions, 3,000 births, and 110,000 outpatient visits. Outpatient services include medicine, pediatrics, rehabilitation, ENT, ophthalmology, dermatology, and dentistry. The hospital is part of an educational center that includes a medical school, nursing school, physical therapy school, occupational therapy school, pharmacy school, and dentistry school.

Kilimanjaro Medical Center is staffed by Tanzanians of all primary care and subspecialty areas, and supported by permanent staff physicians from the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, and Germany – all of whom are eager to mentor students. There are also excellent Tanzanian and international physical and occupational therapy faculty.

Tanzania has 1.4 million people (2009, CIA World Book) living with HIV/AIDS which ranks sixth in the world. Kilimanjaro Medical Center is the home to a comprehensive HIV program that includes screening of pregnant women and prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT), counseling services, community-wide HIV/AIDS education, free access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), and a HIV patient medical center home for children and families living with HIV/AIDS.

International HIV Medicine students participate in the full range of HIV interventions. Activities include educational presentations in public forums, an outpatient clinic, HIV treatment with laboratory support at approved centers, and HIV/AIDS research projects in collaboration with Duke University. Medical Center researchers also collaborate with the NIH, Gates Foundation, and Baylor University in areas including HIV associated malignancies, voluntary testing and counseling, PMTCT, and vaccine immunology.

The Kilimanjaro Medical Center hosts a Community Health Worker (CHW) training program and supervises primary health projects in its surrounding villages. For these services, the medical center receives extensive professional support from Duke University. Public health nurses and the community health department actively provide health education, health promotion activities, and assistance with research activities.

A particular strength is the Kilimanjaro Center for Community Ophthalmology – a World Health Organization East Africa coordinating center for epidemiologic projects studying trachoma and vitamin A deficiency. INMED students participate in all aspect of the Kilimanjaro public health programs. Medical students interested in working in field must be in their final year.

INMED invites all participants to consider raising extra funds to donate to support this facility. While such efforts are not required, they will provide opportunities INMED personnel to become involved in this important aspect of international healthcare.

The medical center has a new Communication Center with telephone, Internet, and fax. Each student accommodation has its own telephone that can receive incoming international calls.

KCMC