Agar Podcast

📢 A quick community update! We’re going strong and adding to our archive of scholarship, education, and career journeys. This season, we’ll welcome more voices from beyond medicine! To make room for that wider community, Hakim Podcast is becoming Agar Podcast (አጋር). An ally in Amharic, a medium for growth in biology, a fitting name for what we’re building together. Thank you for being part of the journey!

Applications for the ADHA Fellowship in Digital Health & AI Leadership are now open. Cohort 01 is a founding cohort of 12 to 15 leaders who already carry digital health or AI decisions: in ministries, health bureaus, public-health institutes, hospitals, regulators, NGOs, and UN or donor offices. Scholarship positions are available. 👉 Apply now: adha.edu.et/en/apply/fellowship Know a leader who should be in this room? Send them this post.

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Our weekend conversations continue, and this week we talked about applying for a PhD in public health in the United States.   Dr. Tewodros Liyew, MD, MPH, is back on the channel, now a PhD candidate at Washington University in St. Louis. He took us through the application exactly as it stands this cycle: choosing programmes and supervisors, the first email to a supervisor, the statement of purpose, the letters, and how a PhD is actually funded through assistantships and tuition remission. We also covered the student visa and the first month before the stipend arrives, sitting the USMLE exams during a PhD, which he did, and the EB-2, the national interest waiver and the EB-1A in plain words.   For anyone applying this year: most programmes close on or before 31 December, so there are still a few weeks to act on this.   Have a great weekend!   https://youtu.be/7KPK9CiyTP8?is=7sFl95gA6AhY8IOG

Our weekend conversations continue, and this week we talked about applying for a PhD in public health in the United States.   Dr. Tewodros Liyew, MD, MPH, is back on the channel, now a PhD candidate at Washington University in St. Louis. He took us through the application exactly as it stands this cycle: choosing programmes and supervisors, the first email to a supervisor, the statement of purpose, the letters, and how a PhD is actually funded through assistantships and tuition remission. We also covered the student visa and the first month before the stipend arrives, sitting the USMLE exams during a PhD, which he did, and the EB-2, the national interest waiver and the EB-1A in plain words.   For anyone applying this year: most programmes close on or before 31 December, so there are still a few weeks to act on this.   Thank you, Dr. Tewodros Liyew, for your time and for coming back a second time. I am sure this will help someone in need.   Have a great weekend!   https://youtu.be/7KPK9CiyTP8?is=7sFl95gA6AhY8IOG

In our latest Hakim Podcast episode, I spoke with Dr. Molla Kebede, who joined an Infectious Disease Fellowship at Tulane University directly from Ethiopia. His journey brings a unique perspective to our playlist. Thank you, Dr. Molla, for being generous with your time and sharing your journey. A special thank you to Dr. Tewodros Liyew for helping me arrange this conversation. Have a great Sunday! https://youtu.be/y_bfDsXu8L8?is=fH0Q9zsRUQGw-TCz

Our weekend conversations continue, and this week we talked about a fully funded master's degree in Rwanda. Dr. Abel Asfaw is studying for the MSc in Global Health Delivery at the University of Global Health Equity in Butaro, Rwanda, on the One Health track. He finished medical school in Addis Ababa and chose health systems and global health instead of clinical residency. In this conversation he explains both the decision and the route, step by step. For anyone thinking of applying: the next call opens on 14 December 2026 and closes on 31 January 2027. A bachelor's degree in any field is enough, you must not already hold a master's degree, and you must be a citizen, resident or refugee in an African country. There are three ways the degree can be paid for, and he takes us through all of them. Thank you, Dr. Abel Asfaw, for your time and thorough preparation. I am sure this will help someone in need. Have a great weekend! https://youtu.be/Bvo2xEmmmhI?is=jiljn2Arh3cVPO1r

Our weekend conversations continue, and this week we talked about practising medicine in New Zealand. Dr. Wondwesen Asmare Adane is an Ethiopian doctor, now a PGY-3 orthopaedic registrar in New Zealand, who finished a Master's in Clinical Research while working full time. It is the first conversation on this channel about New Zealand, and it covers the whole route, from the first exam to the first hospital job. Thank you, Dr. Wondwesen Asmare Adane, for your time and for being so open about the whole process. I am sure this will help someone in need. Have a great weekend! (These conversations add to the many English-language resources on this route. They focus on local challenges and are meant for a local audience, hence the discussion in Amharic.) https://youtu.be/yvWmkO0t20g?is=Ajlp_DEVHjO3DctN

A free directory of Ethiopian doctors worldwide Dr. Jilcha Feyisa, a radiation oncology resident at Dartmouth and our guest back in 2023, has built EthioMDConnect: a place to connect with other Ethiopian physicians, build your network, and find a mentor who has already walked the path you are on. I agree with the vision behind it, and I fully endorse it. It is growing fast. 167+ physicians in 16+ countries have already signed up in just a few days. This platform belongs to us. Sign up, add your profile, and take ownership of it. The more of us on it, the more useful it becomes for whoever comes next. He explains the whole platform in the video. ▶️ https://youtu.be/CBpkcyIABn4 🔗 https://ethiomdconnect.org Share it with a colleague who is looking for a mentor

Our weekend conversations continue, and this week we talked about a fully funded master's at Oxford University. Dr. Biruk Bekele, secured a fully funded MSc at Oxford University through the Mastercard Foundation. It is a very interesting conversation and a new addition to our scholarship playlist. At around two hours, it gives you the full perspective on a fully funded education journey with the Mastercard Foundation. For anyone applying this year: the next deadline is 1 December 2026, and at Oxford, the course deadline is also the scholarship deadline. His slides, with every link and date, are in the video description. Thank you, Dr. Biruk Bekele, for your time and thorough preparation. I am sure this will help someone in need. Have a great weekend! https://youtu.be/g_7tipcF8EU?is=kRApbrpnRKlXYNrF

After a long pause, we are back with our conversations on our YouTube channel. A very fitting guest for the first episode: Yonas Belete (M.D.), a trained psychiatrist and currently a PGY-2 psychiatry resident at McMaster University. We spoke for about eighty minutes about the Canadian clinical training route: the MCCQE1, the NAC OSCE and the CaRMS match. Thank you, Dr. Yonas, for your time and for being so open about the whole process. The insights you shared speak to the unique challenges of our Ethiopian medical community, and I am sure this will help someone in need. Have a blessed weekend. (These conversations are part of the Hakim Podcast and are intended for our Ethiopian audience; the discussion is in Amharic.) https://youtu.be/kn3aoJP86as?is=7ybpeA-skyiWhH7_

We had a panel discussion with the 2024/25 fellows for the Ireland Fellows Programme. It was a nearly three-hour session covering everything about this Full-ride fellowship for Master's students. We had Lawyers, Doctors and people in finance. Thank you, Nahom M Negasa (M.D.). Berite Gudeta, Meklit Aragaw, Azaria, Alem, Ribika and Tsega. Have a productive week 😊 https://youtu.be/0BMDt2Q3UKE

Good morning. We recorded a nearly two-hour session with Teklay Haile, Kifle Tadesse Gebrehiwet and Selomon Nigus Belay. They are Engineering graduates from Ethiopia and Erasmus Mundus scholars in the 2024/25 cohort. This is the third episode on this particular scholarship, and this playlist should give any applicant most of the information they need. It is one of the biggest scholarships that sponsors 191 Master's Programs, and a program can take a maximum of three students from one country. Every year, 573 students can potentially get full-ride scholarships and study at industry-leading European institutions. 48 graduates have won in this cohort, and we hope to see the number grow. Currently, applications are open for the next academic year (fall). Good Luck! Have a great weekend! https://youtu.be/tcubDu5hSCY?si=iocn_rjkvGzCKdyR

ዳንኤል አጥላባቸው የልጅነት ጓደኛዬ ነው። በጣም ቅን አሳቢና ፀባየ ሸጋ ነው። ዳኒ የዛሬ አንድ አመት ተኩል አኪዩት ማዬሎይድ ሉኬሚያ (Acute myeloid leukemia) የተባለ የደም ካንሰር እንዳለበት ተነገረው። ህክምናው ኢትዮጲያ ስለሌለ በእናንተ እገዛ ህንድ ሀገር ሄዶ የአጥንት መቅኔ ንቅለ ተከላ አድርጎ ደህና ሆኖ ተመለሰ። የመቅኔ ንቅለ ተከላው እጅግ ከባድ ነበር። ለተወሰኑ ቀናት የህክምና ክፍሉ ውስጥ ከሀኪም በስተቀር ሰው አይገባም ነበር። ለቀናት ምግብ ሳይበላ በግሉኮስ ብቻ ነበር የቆየው። የኬሞቴራፒ መድሀኒቶቹ ቀጣም ከባድ ናቸው። ዳኒ በዛ ሁሉ ህመም ፣ በዛ ሁሉ ብቸኝነት፣ በዛ ሁሉ አስቸጋሪ ጊዜያት ውስጥ ሆኖ ሁሌ በፈገግታ "እግዚአብሄር ይረዳኛል። አሁን እኮ ደህና ነኝ።" ነበር የሚለው። ጥንካሬውና እምነቱ ይገርመኛል። ዳኒ ህክምናውን ከተከታተለ በኋላ ጤንነቱ ጥሩ ነበር። የዛሬ ስድስት ወር በስልክ ስናወራ "አሁን በዛ ከባድ ጊዜ ሁሉ አጠገቤ ከነበረችው እጮኛዬ ትንሳኤ ጋር እግዚአብሄር ቢፈቅድ ስለሰርግ እያሰብን ነው። እገዛ ላደረጉልኝ ሰዎችም ምስጋናዬን ፖስት አድርግልኝ።" ብሎኝ ፖስት አድርጌለት ነበር። ከጥቂት ሳምንታት በፊት ዳኒ የአጥንት ህመም ይሰማው ጀመረ። ምርመራዎች ከተደረጉለት በኋላ ካንሰሩ እንዳገረሸ ተነገረው። ዳኒ በሁኔታው ቢደናገጥም አሁንም በእግዚአብሄር ላይ ያለው እምነት ፅኑ ነው። ሀኪሞች ሁለተኛ ዙር የመቅኔ ንቀለ ተከላ እንዲደረግለት ወስነዋል። እህቱም በድጋሚ ልትሰጠው ዝግጁ ናት። ለህክምናው 110 ሺ USD ያስፈልገዋል። ሁላችንም በንግድ ባንክ አካውንቱ ወይም በGofundme የምንችለውን እናስገባ። ዳኒ ያጋጠመውን የህይወት ፈተና ለመጋፈጥ በእምነትና በተስፋ ቆሟል። ሁላችንም የምንችለውን እናግዘው። የኢትዮጵያ ንግድ ባንክ ዳንኤል አጥላባቸው 1000289986107 Support Daniel Atlabachew's Second Transplant https://gofund.me/64cfcc91 ሼር ፤ ሼር ፣ ሼር!!! ዶ/ር ዮናስ ላቀው @HakimEthio

Erasmus Mundus is a fully funded scholarship by the EU. It has around 191 programs and takes a maximum of 3 candidates from one country. That is 400-570 spots each year just from this scholarship. Yet, we are sending a handful of candidates each year. The numbers are similar to those of all the other big scholarships. We have cataloged an A-Z application guide for healthcare disciplines on 12 big scholarships. We want to branch out and do the same for the other disciplines. After all, we have more than a million graduates who do not have permanent jobs in Ethiopia. Among them are many great candidates who do not know how to apply and follow up to get this scholarships. This is A conversation with Abinet Adela for those with background in education. 🚨if you are an alumni from any scholarship and want to take part on this we are happy to interview you or share a self recorded video showing how anyone can replicate your journey. https://youtu.be/s7tD8mXr-GM?si=X2fS2HTfJ6YGmksW

We are back! As a remaining episode from our "Opportunities in Africa" playlist, we have recorded an episode with Biniyam Beyene,MD Biniyam Beyene,MD, is a consultant radiologist working in Liberia; we have discussed his current role and expected transition to the USA. We hope you would get something from it. https://youtu.be/10wZfXex97w?si=2_3qSXSDMpcSmttJ

What is it like to study a Ph.D. in public health as a physician from Ethiopia? What is the application process like? Unique hardships? Career outcomes? Who do you think is an ideal candidate? I have asked these questions and more. It was great talking to you, Tewodros W. Liyew, MD, MPH, HELP. https://youtu.be/Z1pDpn-Z-9o?si=6Lj9FVrxZ1ehdGiG

Research experience is becoming increasingly crucial for any career progression in medicine, and by itself, it is becoming a career choice for many. I sat down with the founder and general manager of the Medical Research Lounge (MRL). Thank you Tigist Workneh Leulseged (MD, MPH) https://youtu.be/AxfV1YHwdVQ?si=rvr0bZS2NCPUCziT

Nearly three decades in medicine, a career highlight of Dr Teddy (Tewodros) Teketel (a medical director, principal investigator, and owner at Zion Urgent Care Clinic) Dr Teddy (Tewodros) Teketel has an initiative called IMG ( International Medical Graduates) assist network Check the LinkedIn group. If you are on this journey you will find helpful information there. I remember one of the posts from a few months back where he offered a free observership chance to IMGs currently in the US who are seeking US clinical experience. Seeing people where we want to see ourselves is the North Star we need in our journey. Have a blessed Friday! https://youtu.be/1NVake5fu7s?si=AQOHBq0RFAjrqnha