When Duke neurosurgeon Michael Haglund, MD, PhD, took his first humanitariam trip to Uganda 12 years ago, he says he "saw the need, and it was beyond great."
Haglund founded the Duke Global Health PLUS (Placement of Life-Saving Useable Surplus) program, which thas provided more than 92 tons of medical equipment and supplies worth $13 million to Uganda, and more than $1 million of equipment to Rwanda.
He started and co-directs Uganda’s first Neurosurgery Training Program—one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s only neurosurgery residency programs—at Mulago National Referral and Teaching Hospital, which has doubled the number of neurosurgeons in Uganda from five to ten.
In addition, Haglund created a course to train Uganda’s general surgeons in basic lifesaving neurosurgery procedures and has organized surgical camps led by Duke Health professionals to perform surgeries and train Ugandan neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists, and nursing staff on how to use the surplus equipment, increase their clinical efficiency, and perform more complex surgeries. He has secured grants to conduct research to build surgical and care capacity and, ultimately, a countrywide neurosurgery network.
Recently, University of Washington recognized him with the Alumni Humanitarian Award. Watch the video here.