Another milestone: Kamuzu University of Health Sciences appoints its first home-trained dental academic

One of the more challenging elements of establishing the Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree programme at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) has been the recruitment of clinical academic staff. Historically, there have been very few dentists in Malawi and none have had extensive prior experience of working in a university teaching and research setting. Invariably, therefore, applicants for advertised full-time senior clinical academic posts have been from other countries where salaries are significantly higher, resulting in a disincentive to accept employment in Malawi. The recruitment challenge has been compounded by the ongoing specialist clinical training of three of the previously appointed Assistant Lecturers in South Africa and Kenya, resulting in a very heavy workload for the small number of staff members on site at KUHeS.

However, there is now cause for optimism that the staffing situation will improve over the next few months. Dr Don Chiwaya, the first of the three staff currently training overseas, is now completing his course in Dental Public Health and is due to return to KUHeS in January 2027 as a fully qualified specialist. Later that year Dr Yusuf Maundala will return as a specialist in Prosthodontics and a few months later still, Dr James Mdala will return following his specialist training in Head & Neck Pathology. These three staff will boost the teaching capacity on the BDS course, in addition to increasing access to dental specialist skills in Malawi.

The graduation of Malawi’s first home-trained dentists now provides a further opportunity to develop the cadre of clinical dental academic staff at KUHeS. One member of the first cohort of dental students to graduate in April 2025 was Dr Chifundo Banda.

Chifundo was one of the students selected to visit Scotland for an elective visit in 2024 funded by the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow HOPE Foundation …

… and he subsequently graduated BDS with Distinction:

Earlier this year, following completion of his internship, Chifundo spent a week as a volunteer teacher working under the supervision of a team of visiting senior academics who were at KUHeS as part of the Department of Oral Health Sciences Flying Faculty programme, which is funded by the Scottish Government.

Following a recent advertisement and selection process at KUHeS, Chifundo has been appointed as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Oral Health Sciences. He will take up his post on 1st December 2026.

In response to his appointment Chifundo commented:

I am very excited, and honestly, I cannot find the right words to express my gratitude.

When I received my appointment letter as Assistant Lecturer at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, I just sat and reflected. I see God working through it all.

My passion for teaching began in childhood, when I would often teach my peers, and it continued during my internship where I had the privilege of supervising BDS students in the clinics. Little did I know that this passion would lead me into academia. What makes this appointment particularly meaningful is that I am locally trained, part of the very first cohort, and I now have the opportunity to return to the same institution – this time, not as a student, but an Assistant Lecturer to help train future Oral Health Practitioners of Malawi.

This is not just an appointment for me. It is a platform for my growth. It is a chance to learn, to serve, and to build.

I am looking forward to what lies ahead – postgraduate training, research, and contributing to the growth of the Department of Oral Health Sciences and KUHeS at large. I want to be part of shaping a Department that will produce competent, compassionate, and confident practitioners.

To every student I will teach: I was once where you are. And I am here because someone believed in me. Now, it is my turn to believe in you.

Immediately following the graduation of the first cohort of dentists trained in Malawi, Dr Jonathan Ngoma, then Director of Clinical and Rehabilitation Services at the Ministry of Health, said the following:

The appointment of Dr Chifundo Banda to an Assistant Lectureship demonstrates the prescience of these words from Dr Ngoma. Many congratulations are due to Chifundo, and we look forward to the appointment of further Malawian-trained dentists at KUHeS, as the Department of Oral Health Sciences continues on its journey to become an academic and clinical centre of excellence in Malawi and the wider Region.