Happy holidays, everyone,
I wanted to take a moment and thank all our supporters on this holiday as we reflect on what we are thankful for. If you are on this mailing list, you in some way, large or small, contributed to the success of the African Trauma Initiative/International Orthopedic Trauma Collaborative over the past year. These successes include:
We are excited to share that the IRS has issued a favorable determination letter officially recognizing the International Orthopedic Trauma Collaborative, Inc. (IOTC) as an organization exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(3). This now allows us to officially function in the United States as a non-profit entity to combat the trauma epidemic so strongly impacting Africa.
We graduated our fourth international orthopedic trauma physician fellow, Dr. Beza Gireff, who has now returned to his home institution, AaBETT trauma hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. AaBETT hospital was a hotel that was converted to an academic trauma hospital. There Dr. Beza manages a very busy orthopedic trauma practice as well as teaches orthopedic surgical residents. Also, at AaBETT are our first two international orthopedic trauma fellows Drs. Abiy Worku and Solomon Goshu.
We also graduated our first orthopedic trauma nursing fellow, Future Nsanji, who has returned to his hospital, Saint John Paul II Orthopaedic Mission Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia where he works with our former fellow Dr. Patrick Kinda.
Thanks to the hard work of our medical student fellows, we had a very successful year in research with the following presentations and publications. Click the titles below for more information:
Time-to-Surgery in Orthopedic Trauma Across Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review
Authors: L. Farrington, M. Lemons, A. Abebe, A. Heddings
- Poster Presentation – Kansas City Medical Conference, December 2025, Kansas City, KS
- Published in: Journal of Global Surgery (ONE)
Perioperative Orthopedic Pain Management using Metamizole: A Systematic Review
Authors: M. Braman, C. Freking, L. Jackson, J. Dallman, A. Heddings
- Poster Presentation – Mid-America Orthopaedic Association Annual Meeting, April 2025, San Antonio, TX
- Poster Presentation – Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting, February 2025, Phoenix, AZ
- Oral Presentation – Southern Medical Association Annual Scientific Assembly, October 2024, Atlanta, GA
Management of Intertrochanteric Fractures: An International Comparison
Authors: C. Freking, M. Braman, L. Jackson, K. King, M. Lemons, J. Maksoud, A. Heddings
- Poster Presentation – Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting, February 2025, Phoenix, AZ
Authors: L. Jackson, M. Lemons, H. Albers, K. King, J. Maksoud, M. Braman, J. Dallman, D. Mar, A. Haile, S. Mengistu, A. Heddings
- Accepted to: Kansas Journal of Medicine, September 2025
Authors: L. Jackson, L. Farrington, M. Braman, C. Freking, K. King, M. Lemons, J. Maksoud, D. Mar, F. Chibomba, P. Kinda, A. Heddings
- Published in: International Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology
Authors: M. Lemons, L. Farrington, A. Heddings
- Published in: International Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology
Authors: C. Freking, R. Reddy, A. Gartner, H. Albers, J. Sojka, J. Crist, D. Mar, L. Frager, S. Hund, A. Heddings
- Published in: European Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery & Traumatology
Also, thanks to our medical student fellows and the KUMC Office of International Programs we completed our first lecture series on the trauma epidemic in Africa. This was a series of thirteen lectures on causes and proposed solutions to the trauma epidemic in Africa.
Two of our medical student fellows were able to travel to Romania where, thanks to the graciousness of the Malanceas, were able to have a very successful educational experience in orthopedic trauma surgery in Romania. From this trip these fellows are also currently working on publishing the research they conducted while they were there.
From our film and Media side our documentary, Trauma: The New Epidemic, directed by Backer Hamada and Matt Jacobson, has been in several film festivals and won a number of awards which I have included below.
Grand Jury Award Documentary Short, Awareness Festival
Best International Documentary, London International Filmmakers Festival
Audience Choice Award, Kansas City Film Festival International
Runner-Up Documentary Short, Williamsburg International Film & Music Competition
Best Documentary, African Cultural Film Festival
Best Documentary Short, Uplift Film Festival
Jury Award, Thurrock International Film Festival
Honorable Mention, Frames of New York
Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Short, Indie Short Fest
Official Selection, Replay International Film Festival
Official Selection, Free State Festival
In addition to the above accomplishments, we have expanded the efficiency of our organization by developing relationships with other non-profits that share a similar vision to ATI/IOTC while possessing talents in areas outside ours. Thanks to these other organizations partnering with us, we can have a bigger impact on improving orthopedic trauma care throughout Africa. These organizations include the Ethiopian Community Organization of Kansas City, the Kidane Mehret Ethiopian Orthodox Church of Kansas City, Project C.U.R.E., Net Development, and Ethiopian Community Los Angeles.
We also had the pleasure of starting a relationship with Dr. Fabruce, a surgeon from Madagascar, and Francis from Island Reach, an organization delivering medical care to remote areas of Madagascar.
As we move into the new year, we are looking forward to our shipment of medical equipment, surgical instruments, and supplies being sent out from Project C.U.R.E. Kansas City to Saint John Paul II Orthopaedic Mission Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, with an anticipated ship date of January 20.
Before this shipping date, we hope to obtain ten orthopedic power sets. These sets contain drills and saws that can be safely used in the operating room to perform life- and limb-saving orthopedic trauma surgeries. These refurbished sets we are trying to purchase run from 2,000 to 8,000 dollars each. Please consider giving through our donation page to help us achieve this end of year goal and comment “Power” if you would like to support this effort.
It is our greatest privilege and honor to work with you all to serve patients and their care providers in Ethiopia, Zambia, and Madagascar. Through our combined efforts, we can make an impact on the trauma epidemic that is responsible for so much unnecessary loss of life and disability across Africa. We are incredibly grateful for your financial contributions. Every dollar donated goes directly toward educational efforts and addressing the essential equipment and infrastructure needs of our fellows and partners in Africa.
Sincerely,
Dr. Archie Heddings, MD
CEO
