2024 Awardee of the Professor Jimmy James Prize in Plastic Surgery

The Professor Jimmy James Prize in Plastic Surgery

The Professor Jimmy James Prize in Plastic surgery is an annual recognition opportunity, awarded annually to the highest scoring candidate of the COSECSA Fellowship examination in plastic surgery. The prize was established in 2022, by Judith James, the wife of the late Professor Jimmy James, to commemorate her husband. Professor Jimmy James was a consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon who spent much of his career in Africa, working at ALERT (All Africa Leprosy Rehabilitation Training), AMREF and the Flying Doctors Service, the latter of which allowed him to work in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Nairobi completing reconstructive surgeries. Professor James contributed significantly in training surgeons as Director of the Burns unit at the newly opened Queen Elizabeth Central hospital in Blantyre, Malawi. Throughout the 1990’s, Professor James became pivotal in the establishment of COSECSA and, by the turn of the millennium, he was secretary general of the College. COSECSA is now the largest surgical college in Africa, operating in more than 15 countries. Ninety percent of the graduates remain practising in their communities and countries, thereby fulfilling Professor James’ original vision and honouring him in doing so.

In conversation with Dr Wambi

2024 Awardee of the Professor Jimmy James Prize in Plastic Surgery

Professor Jimmy James himself was often inspired by those he worked with and chance moments that happened throughout his life, have there been any pivotal people or moments in your life, which encouraged you to purpose your career in plastic surgery? 

My biggest inspiration to become a surgeon was the healthcare structure itself, over 5 billion people on the planet do not have access to safe surgery, and this is a particular concern in Uganda, with its population of 47 million people, many of whom are young and looking to build a better future. Although many improvements have been made in different specialities, and for targeted concerns, patients with several abnormalities requiring plastic surgery are yet to be systematically treated by the healthcare systems in Uganda. Aside from “parachute surgery” it is very rare to hear these patients getting access to timely surgical care. As one of the locally trained Ugandan surgeons, I felt this was a disparity that needed to be addressed. 

Also, during my internship, I attended my first cleft lip and palate camp by SMILE TRAIN headed locally by Dr. Rose Alenyo, a consultant plastic surgeon. This showed me the importance plastic surgery in improving the quality of life of patients, rather than the full focus of healthcare being just patient survival. This exposure, together with further professional interaction and observerships with Dr. Rose, greatly paved the way for me into the COSECSA training recommended by Dr. Rose, as there were not and still are no local training programs in plastic Surgery.

The concern you have expressed regarding access to healthcare in your region must at times feel like a huge responsibility, what continues to motivate or inspire you during these times?

Simply, the unmet need for many of our patients in Uganda to access plastic surgery services, it pushes me to work hard with my colleagues. The dream of being part of the problem solving and closing the gap greatly motivate me to work and read even harder, despite the responsibility. 

Professor Jimmy James had an illustrious career, and hoped that COSECSA would allow others in the Plastic Surgery specialty to do the same, as such, what are your career aspirations for the future? What impact do you hope to have? 

Plastic surgery is a vast field with many great opportunities for career development. Microsurgery services are in great need in Uganda; less than 3 microsurgeons are present in our country and all work in the private sector, not all of them actively tackling Free Flap reconstruction.  This leaves the service only accessible to a certain group of individuals rather than the public at large. I was fortunate enough to be employed at Kiruddu National Burns and Plastic Surgery Unit, a public facility where I began my COSECSA plastic surgery training. Of course, full-time training required me to delegate and organize my other commitments efficiently. As I conclude my training this year, I hope to leverage my position and network to further expand plastic surgery access in the country as well as if possible, further my training in microsurgery to be able to introduce microsurgery services in the public sector. In return, I hope to take part in building a sustainable, consistent microsurgery network in Uganda. 

Lastly, and on behalf of the College, congratulations for your achievement on being awarded the Professor Jimmy James Prize, how do you this achievement may impact your career and next steps?

Winning the Professor Jimmy James prize has been great milestones to the efforts and hard work invested into my learning to excel in plastic surgery training and join the local team as a professional to better service delivery in Uganda. 

Also, as a COSECSA trained Plastic surgeon, I have met colleagues throughout the region who share this plastic surgery passion. I look forward to further networking with colleagues from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, becoming a stronger researcher, conducting outreach in this field and actively participating in training to close the gap in public access to Plastic Surgery in Uganda.

In collaboration with COSECSA and made possible by the generous support of Mrs Judith James.