Published: 07/21/2025
By Jamie Hansen, Global Health Communications Manager
The third cohort of SASH scholars (physician-leaders from across Africa) spent six weeks at Stanford during July and August, deepening their expertise, collaborating with their mentors, and developing clinical quality improvement projects to advance health equity in their home countries.
Cohort 3 scholars include:
- Olana Wakoya Gichile, Lecturer/General Practitioner, University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda
- Adolfine Hokororo, Senior Lecturer/Pediatrician, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences/Bugando Medical Centre, Tanzania
- Tamara Phiri, Internal Medicine Specialist, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences/Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Malawi
- Ornella Masimbi, Lecturer – Simulation and Skills Track/General Practitioner, University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda
- Courage Uhunmwangho, Senior Lecturer/Consultant Rheumatologist, University of Jos/Jos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria
- Catherine Segbefia, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Ghana Medical School, Ghana
Learn more about each scholars in this welcome post.
At Stanford, scholars worked closely alongside their mentors to gain new skills that will inform year-long improvement projects when they return home, while also gaining training in quality improvement — a systematic approach to sustainably improve the efficiency, effectiveness, safety, and patient experience of health services.
In addition, they shared their knowledge and expertise with the Stanford community, including at student events and gatherings, meetings and ward rounds with Stanford faculty and trainees, and with groups and centers across campus like the California Maternal and Perinatal Quality Care Collaboratives (CMQCC/CPQCC).
Dr. Ornella Masimbi said these collaboratives introduced her to valuable real-world examples of quality improvement methods that were directly applicable to her SASH project.
“These new (Stanford) connections will significantly foster bidirectional learning by enabling me to share my Rwandan healthcare expertise while gaining insights from their high-resource quality improvement models,” she said, adding that she believes the connections could lead to additional collaborations between her institution, Rwanda’s University of Global Health Equity, and Stanford.
In addition to the academic learning, scholars expressed appreciation for the inter-personal relationships and connections formed through SASH.
Dr. Catherine Segbefia expressed appreciation for connecting with scholars from other parts of the African continent.
“It has been insightful to learn about their cultures, professional backgrounds, and perspectives, as well as to explore our shared goals and aspirations for the SASH programme,” she wrote. “Most importantly, we began to build strong relationships and a sense of camaraderie that I believe will be essential for collaboration and support over the next six weeks.”