Izzy Lieberman’s 15-Year Old Ugandan Spine Surgery Mission

Building an Infrastructure for Spine Healing Far, Far From Plano Texas

After that first memorable year, the team moved the program to the capital, Kampala. “We operated from the Mulago Hospital for the next six years. While things went well overall, there was a fair amount of internal bureaucracy and politics that obstructed our progress. We were considering taking the team to work on the U.S. Mercy ship when I learned that the Ugandan government was building a new hospital in Mbarara—and that they had paved the road from Entebbe to Mbarara.”

In 2012 the Ugandan government opened a new hospital in Mbarara. Dr. Lieberman and his team touched down at Entebbe and made their way (safely) to Mbarara. “It was a festive atmosphere. We arrived a week after the ribbon cutting and essentially opened the ORs for them, unpacking their C-arm, etc.”

Over time, the hospital became affiliated with the Mbarara University of Science and Technology, one of two medical schools in the country. “On one occasion” recalls Dr. Liebermann, “we had lectured to over 300 medical students, fellows, and residents from all disciplines of medicine!”

As the educational effort grew, Dr. Stanley Kisinde, a general surgeon in Uganda, took on a broader role. “We met Stanley in Mbarara, and he indicated a desire to expand spine education in their hospital. He became the educational liaison for the program and organized seminars and lectures. In addition, for the past two years he has been working in Dallas as my research associate.”

And the fruits of their efforts are emerging. “In summer 2019 I delivered a basic spine anatomy and physiology lectures to 3rd and 4th year medical students, as well as a surgical lecture to surgery residents. They asked very astute and pertinent questions stemming from their observations of the spine pathology they encountered in friends and family. It was all very structured, and the students had to report on the lectures to their instructors, which counted as educational credits.”

“We have been extremely fortunate to have Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) administer our program. They are right on target as far as logistics, grant writing, and fund management. In addition, their help has been invaluable when it comes to setting up teams and licensing for medical professionals. I really want to acknowledge the work of Barbara Edwards, who was my right and left hands at HVO. Tragically, she recently passed away. Her legacy lives on through the spine mission.”

Paying for the Uganda Mission

The Ugandan mission exists on donations—whether financial, donated time or equipment. And there have been lean times. “In the last two years there has been some deterioration in the physical plant, I think things are looking up, in part because the hospital is generating interest teaching and we’ve done numerous lectures.”

Notably, says Dr. Lieberman, the medical device companies have stood by his side. “Although it took three years to achieve a regular flow of funds, by year three we had steady method of generating enough funds from medical device companies and from ‘friends and family.’”