Testimonials of Merck Foundation Alumni

I’m Dr. Gidion Chongo from Zambia, and I am thankful to Merck Foundation for giving me this opportunity to share my firsthand experience after doing the diabetes mastercourse. This course I must say, was packed with abundant updated information and easy to understand. It has enlightened me with a lot of advanced information that I wasn't aware of, including best approaches towards diabetes management. I can confidently claim that this was one of the best courses that I have ever attended.

Thanks for letting me be a part of it. It has surely made diabetes management a lot easier for me.

I am a Zambian citizen, and a medical doctor by profession. I have been working in public/government facilities ever since my medical graduation. Over the years, I trained in cardiovascular medicine and continued serving as a Consultant Cardiovascular Physician. During this service, I encountered many patients with respiratory conditions that were wrongly referred to the cardiovascular unit and sometimes these patients would have to travel over 150 kms just to be examined at a bigger hospital. I thus noted a need to help people in such conditions.

When Merck Foundation came along, it was easy to make a choice for which specialty would be ideal for me to get further training, I have just completed my postgraduate diploma and now doing the last part of MSc in Respiratory Medicine, hoping to complete soon successfully.

Now, I am attending to the patients with respiratory disorders at my hospital, and I must say that it has been a very interesting journey, thus far. Common conditions encountered include infectious diseases like pulmonary tuberculosis, pneumonias (community and atypical), asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and rarely cancers.

Many patients besides medical students and intern doctors (teaching and mentorship) are benefiting from this training, thanks to Merck Foundation.