Jason Fader, MD, FACS, FCS(ECSA)

The son of a family practice doctor, Dr. Jason Fader was raised on a Navajo Reservation and then in Kenya, where he saw from a young age how a career in medicine could help alleviate suffering in impoverished areas. So after graduating from Calvin University, Jason attended Loyola Stritch School of Medicine and then completed a 5-year general surgery residency at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, followed by a 1-year international surgery fellowship at the same institution. During residency, Jason and his wife met other physicians in training who were similarly interested in working in Africa, so the friends pursued the endeavor together as 3 couples. This led them to Tenwek Hospital in Kenya, where for 2 years they acquired skills in developing world medicine while looking for a place to invest their careers long-term. In Burundi they found a small, rural mission hospital designated as a teaching hospital for a local medical school, Hope Africa University. The hospital lacked permanent specialist staff. So Jason and a growing team of now 6 doctors and 2 teachers moved to Burundi with the mission organization Serge to work and teach at Kibuye Hope Hospital. At that time the hospital had no running water and intermittent electricity. The year before the team arrived, 609 operations were performed, most of which were c-sections. Now, 10 years later, the hospital performs over 3,700 operations per year, treats over 30,000 patients annually, trains nursing, medical, and anesthesia students, and runs an internship program as well as a 5-year PAACS surgery residency program. Dr. Fader has played a key role in developing the hospital infrastructure, growing the surgery service, and establishing the surgical residency program.