PIOA welcomes Dr. Viola Kokiva from Kavieng in the Islands region of Papua New Guinea(PNG). Viola is our first female trainee. She has recently completed her Part 1 exam in Port Moresby. Viola said she found the first week of the course very hard. By the end of the third week she was glad she persevered and was proud of the new skills she had gained. This included learning microsurgery skills in nerve and artery repair.
Viola was also the recipient of a generous grant from medical students from the UK who have provided her hospital with funding for orthopaedic implants. PIOA facilitates the provision of high quality, low cost implants from India and China and encourages hospitals to purchase these implants in order to develop local systems that are self reliant rather than relying on constant donors. Viola will pay for half the cost of her implants and the grant from Aruni Mathyalakan and her friends in the UK will cover the other half. PIOA is grateful for their generous gift.
