Botswana is a country of almost 2.5 million people, with 15.4% of the population under the age of 14. Would you believe that there are only two pediatric infectious diseases specialists in the entire country? It’s true, and both of those specialists just so happen to be OMI alumni.
After completing his fellowship this year, Dr. Kasigo Mochankana became the first pediatric infectious diseases specialist in all of Botswana. For a country where the leading cause of death is communicable diseases such as TB and HIV/AIDS, this is a highly important job to take on in the Botswana healthcare system. He is joined by only one other pediatric infectious diseases physician in the entire country: Dr. Tinsae Alemayehu, who attended the OMI infectious diseases program three years ago and will return for our medical leadership course in the fall. When asked to describe his experience studying with the OMI, Dr. Mochankana wrote:
“The OMI has been part of different stages of my career. I first used its online resources as a general pediatrician, then attended the pediatric infectious diseases seminar while training as a fellow and later joined the public health course when my responsibilities had started to extend into policy and technical work. What I learn through the OMI does not stay with me alone. I take it back into clinical care, teaching, antimicrobial stewardship, guideline work and the wider infectious diseases work I am involved in in Botswana.”
After being nominated by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to attend our peds ID course in 2023, the OMI has supported Dr. Mochankana in continuing his medical education through additional seminars here in Salzburg. He has since attended our public health strategy course in 2025, as well as our recent general infectious diseases course in September 2026.
The OMI’s long-term partner in pediatrics, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (UPenn) has collaborated with the University of Botswana (UB) since 2001. The mission is to provide clinical care and do research to inform and improve in person care and public health strategies. This partnership also provides education for the next generations of doctors and specialists studying with UB and the Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone. The educational aspect of the partnership came about after UB opened their first medical school in 2009 and their first pediatric residency program in 2010.
Part of CHOP’s collaboration with UB also includes giving residents from CHOP the opportunity to do a month-long rotation in Botswana, providing young professionals from the US the opportunity to both learn about clinical environments much different than ones they are used to, and to share the knowledge they possess with other clinicians in Botswana.
As CHOP celebrates it’s 25-year long partnership with UB, we want to acknowledge their commitment to providing comprehensive healthcare in Botswana. Based on this collaboration, the OMI has been able to train nine physicians from Botswana at various seminars, ultimately allowing the educational network to continue to grow there to help patients in need. Dr. Kagiso Mochankana is just one example of a great success story coming out of the collaboration between CHOP and UB, and we cannot wait to see more as their partnership continues to grow and flourish.
