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Anesthesiologist Gaston Nyirigira has embarked on a three-month trip to Kingston to gather research knowledge and experience to assist his native Rwanda. Dr. Nyirigira is one of only 15 anesthesiologists in Rwanda, so this research exchange is critical to provide him with the skills to implement new medical protocols upon his return.

This was made possible by a Canada-Africa Research Exchange Grant (CAREG) awarded to co-principal investigators Ana Johnson (Public Health Sciences) and Joel Parlow (Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine).

“We first met Gaston in 2012 when he was recommended to us by his program director,” says Dr. Parlow, who, along with Dr. Johnson and Ryan Mahaffey (Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine), first met him while teaching as part of the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society International Education Foundation, and researching the barriers to implementing protocols for managing pain. He has been an important collaborator in our project.”

Elizabeth VanDenKerkhof and Rosemary Wilson (School of Nursing) and David Goldstein (Anesthesiologist), co-investigators on this exchange project, travelled to Rwanda earlier this year and worked with Dr. Nyirigira at a hospital in Butare, Rwanda. The goal was to learn more about postoperative pain management techniques used in teaching hospitals by surveying a number of medical professionals. They relied heavily on Dr. Nyirigira’s hospital contacts to collect the data.

“He has tremendous collaboration skills, and he knows everyone, which was very helpful,” says Dr. Wilson.

For the current phase of the grant, Dr. Nyirigira was selected to join the research group at Queen’s. He jumped at the chance.

“I need to use the opportunities I’m given to the fullest potential,” says Dr. Nyirigira, “and do as much as I can in the time I am here. I have the passion, I have the motivation. I’m hoping I can motivate more people in my country to come and study anesthesiology. I also want to increase awareness of what an anesthesiologist does and how important they are when it comes to managing pain. I can be an advocate.”

While in Kingston, Dr. Nyirigira is auditing a number of courses and will be making a number of presentations to departments at Queen’s. He is also working on several different projects, including surveying health personnel in Kingston about their postoperative pain management practices. The information he gathers will be used to create new protocols and best practices for personnel involved in the care of surgical patients in Rwanda.

“The objectives of the grant include having Gaston head an implementation program that will work in Rwanda,” says Dr. Johnson. “He is also going to be a major resource for health professionals in his country.”

Previous work headed by the team’s investigators (Drs. Johnson, Parlow and Mahaffey) pinpointed the need for such an implementation program in Rwanda ().

When his time here is finished, Dr. Nyirigira will be returning to Rwanda and taking with him new knowledge. The next phase of the exchange entails some of the investigators returning to Rwanda in 2016.

“He is committed to making care in his country better,” says Dr. Parlow. “This is an opportunity for him to learn from us but also for us to learn from him.”

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