Sylvia Shitsama Nyamweya (née Sylvia Shitsama), is a Kenyan consultant
neurosurgeon at the
Kenyatta National Referral Hospital.
She is the first female neurosurgeon in Kenya
and one of a handful of female neurosurgeons in the country.
Background and education
She was born in the Kakamega District in Kenya in 1983,
and attended Kenyan schools for her elementary and secondary education. She was admitted to the
University of Nairobi
, mottoeng = In unity and work
, image = Uon emblem.gif
, image_size = 210px
, caption = Coat of Arms of the University
, type = Public
, endowment ...
, where she studied
human medicine, graduating with a
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) degree. Later in October 2008, she was admitted into the neurosurgery residency program at Kenyatta National Hospital, operated by the University of Nairobi.
The program, lasting at least six years, leads to the award of a
Master of Medicine (MMed) degree in
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...
. She graduated with her
MMed degree in February 2015, and became the first female neurosurgeon in Kenya.
Work experience
Since her graduation from the MMed program, she was appointed as a consultant neurosurgeon at Kenyatta National Hospital, the largest referral hospital in the country, which also serves as the teaching hospital of the
Nairobi Medical School.
Effective January 2016, she concurrently serves as a
lecturer
Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...
at the College of Health Sciences at the
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) is a public university that is situated in Juja, 36 kilometres northeast of Nairobi, along the Nairobi-Thika SuperHighway, off Exit 15. .It offers courses in Technology, Engineering, ...
(JKUAT).
In June 2017, she began to offer her services at ''Sage Brain and Spine Clinic'', located at the Kenya Medical Association Centre in Nairobi.
She is reported to be seeking funding to sponsor residents enrolled in the neurosurgery Master of Medicine programme to increase enrollment and output of specialist neurosurgeons.
Dr. Sylvia Shitsama has at some point served as a board member of the ''Kenya Medical Association Sacco'' (KMA), responsible for member credit issues.
Honors and awards
In 2017, she was named among the "Top 40 Women Under 40 in Kenya", by the
Nation Media Group
Nation Media Group (abbreviated as NMG) is a Kenyan media group listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. NMG was founded by Aga Khan IV in 1959 and is the largest private media house in East and Central Africa with offices in Kenya, Uganda, and Tan ...
.
In 2022, she was one of 14 people honored at the
Grow, Unite, Build, Africa (GUBA) Awards, and received the Pioneer Award for Health Excellence.
See also
*
Elizabeth Itotia
Elizabeth Wangari Itotia (born ), is a nuclear pharmacist from Kenya. She is the first Kenyan woman to qualify as a nuclear pharmacist (also referred to as a ''radiopharmacist''). As of July 2021, she is one of only three similarly qualified ...
*
Iddah Asin
Iddah Asin is a lawyer and corporate executive in Kenya. She is the Director of Government Affairs and Policy, for the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson in the countries of the African Great Lakes. In 2017 she was named among the "Top 40 ...
*
Carol Musyoka
References
External links
Progress of women in neurosurgery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyamweya, Shitsama Sylvia
Living people
1985 births
Kenyan neurosurgeons
Kenyan women surgeons
University of Nairobi alumni
21st-century Kenyan physicians
21st-century Kenyan women physicians