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Seek Wisdom, Elevate Your Intellect and Serve Humanity – motto Addis Ababa University
The Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové has been collaborating for 8 years with the College of Health Sciences (CHS), which is part of Addis Ababa University (AAU). This collaboration was originally initiated by Prof. Zaalem Temesgen, MD, a native of Addis Ababa who has long facilitated selective internships for our students at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota). Sixteen Ethiopian students have already visited our Faculty of Medicine, as have senior officials from the CHS on multiple occasions. In the second week of June, representatives of our medical faculty (Dean Prof. Jiří Manďák., Vice Deans Prof. Jiří Petera, and Prof. Emil Rudolf, as well as Prof. Jan Harrer, and Assoc. Prof. Ivan Vařeka) paid a reciprocal visit to CHS. The purpose and goal of these mutual visits by senior officials was, and remains, to gain a better understanding of the specific conditions in the partner country and at the partner institution, and to jointly explore opportunities for further cooperation and its expansion.
Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa (120–140 million people, according to various sources), with a very young population (median age of about 19 years, life expectancy of 56 years) and a rapidly developing economy (annual GDP growth of around 9%). This is also reflected in the growth of foreign direct investment (nearly 6% for the year 2025), with China, India, and the Gulf States being the main investors. Addis Ababa (Addis Ababa in Amharic) itself is a dynamically developing city experiencing an impressive construction boom. It is a major African metropolis and the seat of two key continental organizations: the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). It is also the highest-altitude capital city in Africa (2,355 meters above sea level). Ethiopia is home to around 70 ethnic groups that speak roughly 80 languages; while Amharic is the main official language, English is the primary language of instruction in universities (and presumably also in high schools). English is thus also the primary language of Ethiopian medicine. All of these factors are directly reflected in the extreme contrasts between the modern center of Addis Ababa—filled with high-rises and other impressive new buildings, streets, boulevards, and parks—and its, by contrast, truly impoverished outskirts and rural areas. The fact is, however, that everywhere we went we met friendly and open-minded people, and it was particularly evident among our colleagues in the healthcare field that they were striving to do their jobs as best they could under the given circumstances—even though, from our perspective, those circumstances were often very difficult. That’s all I have to say about the basic characteristics of this exceptionally interesting and, most likely, very promising country.
As previously mentioned, the official part of the program consisted of a visit to CHS facilities, particularly its teaching hospital, Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, specifically the departments of oncology and radiation oncology, internal medicine and intensive care, cardiac surgery, physical therapy, orthotics and prosthetics, biochemistry, and microbiology. Tikur Anbessa (Black Lion) is a state-run hospital with more than 700 beds that provides care to all segments of the population. The hospital fully reflects the long-standing underfunding and the urgent need for modernization and capacity expansion that are typical of the Ethiopian healthcare system. At the same time, it serves as a training center for students of medicine and dentistry, as well as a range of non-medical fields (nurses, midwives, pharmacists, laboratory and radiology technicians, and others). This institution has more than enough work ahead of it; the number of healthcare professionals is very low compared to Europe. There is one doctor for nearly 6,000 residents, and the situation regarding specialists is even more dire; for example, there are only about 100 ophthalmologists in all of Ethiopia. In 2022, Ethiopia had 367 hospitals, 3,777 health centers, and 17,699 health clinics in operation, with another 67 hospitals under construction. The private sector operated 43 private hospitals and 3,867 private clinics, often financed by foreign capital, where one can expect a higher level of service than what we encountered at the public hospital. The CHS itself consists of five schools: the School of Medicine (SoM), the School of Biomedicine and Medical Laboratory Sciences (SBMLS), the School of Nursing and Midwifery (SNM), the School of Pharmacy (SP), and the School of Public Health (SPH). It has over 5,000 undergraduate students and more than 100 graduate programs, and employs over 660 full-time faculty members.
During our first visit to the CHS campus, which includes a hospital, we were welcomed by the institution’s leadership, headed by Dr. Rahel Argav, who serves as Chief Executive Director of CHS and concurrently as Vice President of AAU. The actual program of the visit was superbly organized by Prof. Mistire Wolde, who serves as Dean of SBMLS and to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude, as well as to his colleagues, who devoted their time to us even after their working hours, outside the university and the hospital. For most of the time, our group was accompanied by Prof. Temesgen, whose knowledge of local conditions was a very welcome help to us, enhanced by his excellent command of Czech from his time studying in Prague.
Thanks to our colleagues and hosts, we also had the opportunity to visit other educational institutions, such as a museum dedicated to human evolution—including the famous Lucy, discovered right here in Ethiopia—as well as sites connected to Ethiopian history. In fact, the main university campus even includes the palace of the last Ethiopian emperor, which has been converted into an ethnographic museum. But we could also observe living ethnography in the hotel lobby or on the streets in the outskirts of the city, where people largely wear their traditional clothing. In contrast, in clubs where they play surprisingly great jazz or blues, we met European-dressed patrons who spoke excellent English and were eager to converse on a wide variety of topics. From our perspective, perhaps the most interesting aspect is the widely held belief among young people that things will only continue to improve and that the country has a bright future ahead. What a contrast compared to the Czech Republic and Europe in general.
During all of the aforementioned joint events, discussions focused primarily on issues related to the directions and possibilities for further cooperation and its funding, both in the area of student study abroad programs and joint research projects. Interest in accepting Ethiopian students for summer internships was confirmed by both the University Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, as well as by AAU. Emphasis was placed on cooperation in the area of doctoral programs, particularly in the fields of tropical infectious diseases, cardiac surgery, epidemiology, and cancer treatment, as well as on the sharing of teaching materials. Furthermore, cooperation in the area of online education was agreed upon.
What can I say in conclusion? The visit to Addis Ababa and the state hospital was definitely interesting and, in its own way, instructive for everyone involved—regardless of the fact that, over their many years of practice and travels around the world, they’ve already seen quite a lot. A study trip to Addis Ababa can definitely be recommended to young colleagues—both current and future—especially those with a slightly adventurous spirit. For one thing, they’ll realize how lucky they are to have been born in the heart of Europe, and how trivial most of their everyday worries and complaints really are. Above all, they will meet Ethiopian colleagues who do their work under incomparably worse conditions, yet they lack neither expertise nor the drive to do their jobs as well as possible. And above all, they believe that their country and their lives are heading toward a better future. So the real question is: who should be learning from whom and seeking inspiration from whom?
Author of the text: : Assoc. Prof. Ivan Vařeka
Autohor of the photos: Prof. Jan Harrer
Translated from Czech language via Deepl.com