​Specialising in medicine is hard work. But doing so in a language you hardly know, far from everything that is familiar, is beyond challenging. Yet Dr Raymond Dusabe (40) tackled this challenge head-on as a foreign post-graduate student at Stellenbosch University (SU). Now he is ready to start his career as Rwanda's first-ever gynaecological oncologist.

Overcoming adversity is a familiar theme for this French-speaking doctor who grew up as a Rwandan refugee in Burundi. While living in Burundi kept him safe during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, many of his family members in Rwanda didn't survive. And when he returned home in 1998 after completing his high school education in Burundi, his family had to start anew in a broken country.

However, in the following years Dusabe was fortunate enough to study medicine at the National University of Rwanda. He decided to pursue his dream of specialising in gynaecology and in 2010 managed to obtain funding from the Rwandan government. Thanks to fellow countryman Dr Eugene Ngoga, who studied at SU a couple of years earlier, a relationship between this university and the Rwandan government already existed.

But obtaining funding for his Master of Medicine degree (MMed) at SU was only the first step; many other challenges awaited. "I was scared when I first arrived at the Tygerberg campus and didn't know if I would make it. Everything was new and I was struggling with English. I just wanted to run away." When he passed his first examination in his second year, Dusabe knew the worst was over. "I could see that things would go well from then on."

After completing his MMed in 2014, another fantastic opportunity beckoned: Tygerberg's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology selected and financed him to subspecialise in gynaecology oncology. Obtaining this MPhil degree was the first step towards addressing a major clinical gap in his home country. "We don't have any gynaecological oncologists back home and, for most women in Rwanda, a cancer diagnosis is a death sentence. I realised there was a way of preventing much of this suffering."

Dusabe completed his clinical rotation at the end of February 2017, but has one final exam to complete. In the meantime he has returned home, where he is the only gynaecological oncologist in his country. And, thanks to the training he received at Tygerberg, he has taken valuable skills back home – not only to successfully treat female cancer patients, but also to pass on skills and knowledge to other doctors in the region.

"At first, I wasn't sure I would return to my fatherland. But Prof Hennie Botha (Executive Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) encouraged me to do so. Now I can also set up effective screening programmes. Effective primary interventions are available in Rwanda, but screening programmes and protocols for gynaecological cancers are not well established."

Having personally experienced the impact of cancer in a country that lacks the relevant medical expertise, Dusabe is excited to make a difference back home. "My sister-in-law was diagnosed with cervical cancer during her pregnancy in 2015. No specialists were available, but I was able to give her advice. Prof Botha also examined her and, after performing the appropriate surgery, she is now completely cured."

Although Dusabe has not been appointed yet, he is hoping to start working in the public sector in the next few months. "That is where people are in need of the most help."

Just before returning home to Kigali, he was looking forward to speaking his home language again, seeing his parents and sleeping in his own bed. But he has also left a part of himself behind in the Mother City. "I will miss the beaches, the mountains and the Waterfront. But, most of all, I will miss the Department. It has become my second home."