Charles Junior Mwansambo completed six years of training in Malawi, including one year of pre-med, before he began the year-long application process that would bring him to UNC Hospitals for a medical student exchange. Currently, he’s wrapping up a two-month program with the UNC School of Medicine and says he’s enjoyed everything about it. Even a personal challenge early on–discovering he needed a vaccine he never received as a child–became a learning experience.
“Just like at home, there are certain required vaccines, except Malawi doesn’t offer varicella vaccines. I didn’t get chicken pox as a kid, so I didn’t have any immunity to Varicella,” said Charles. “Each new experience has given me a broader perspective that I can apply to pediatric infectious diseases.”
During his medical student exchange, Charles learned diagnostic methods for infectious diseases. He learned about inter-specialty communication and received point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) training from Dr. Ria Dancel. His goal is to take advanced medical practices back to Malawi, to improve treatment approaches for future patients.
Pediatric Care in Malawi
Charles’s skills and training in pediatric medicine are needed. In Malawi, there are 43 pediatricians (in both the public and private sector) currently serving 51% of the population who are the under 18 years of age (approximately 11.2 million people). This equates to one pediatrician per 260,500 children.
He says the mortality rate for children under age five has seen a steep decline, from 234 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1992, to about 48 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024. This is due to the contributions from health workers in the districts treating conditions like diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria, which have been the leading causes of pediatric mortality. And this has allowed pediatrics to see more specialized cases in tertiary facilities, pushing the country to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.
“It’s not just about what I’ve learned, it’s about how I can use this knowledge to make a difference back home. My goal is to make a difference, targeting one patient at a time and enriching other students in the process. To ensure the health and the knowledge of Malawi, is set for the future.”
During his exchange, Charles has been working on the pediatric infectious disease ward at UNC Children’s Hospital. He says the experience has introduced him to differences in medical practices, particularly in infectious disease management. From carefully tracking Staphylococcus aureus in neonatal patients to understanding comprehensive vaccine protocols, each day has introduced something new.
“I joined the ID consult team to see patients when they had issues pertaining to infectious diseases. This team usually comes in when there’s fever, and that’s because we need to rule out infectious diseases. We’ve seen bacteria and viruses and skin infections. In one case, we were fortunately able to identify the toxin and treat a soft tissue infection early. If we hadn’t, the young patient could have ended up in the UNC Burns Center.”
“Back home, we have very limited options for antibiotics and culturing techniques. But knowing when to take a culture, and how paramount it is before administering antibiotics, has been valuable for my training. It has helped me understand how to apply better treatment.”
Dr. Marielys Collazo-Roman, a fellow in the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program, was one of Mwansambo’s mentors during the two-month program. She shared her thoughts about medical training and the heart of medicine, that go beyond medical protocols and patient treatment.
“A good learner really enjoys being taught, and that’s Charles,” said Dr. Collazo-Roman. “He always wants to help and I feel like that’s all you need. I love to teach as well, so it’s about guiding him to get the resources that he needs. I feel like his success is also my success.”
Beyond these hands-on medical learnings, Charles enrolled in a global health course with Dr. Sylvia Becker-Dreps, director of the Office for Global Health Education, and professor of family medicine and epidemiology. The course—called Foundations in Global Health—is normally taken by UNC medical students who do clinical electives in low- and middle-income countries.
“For Charles, there was the interesting twist in that he was doing the clinical elective in the US, with his perspective from Malawi,” said Dr. Becker-Dreps. “UNC Project-Malawi is a popular site for UNC med students to do global health electives. It feels right to welcome Charles as part of our commitment to bi-directional exchange.”
Returning to Malawi
When Charles returns to Malawi, he will begin an 18-month internship, rotating through various medical specialties, including Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Obstetrics and Gynecology. After that, he hopes to work at the Lilongwe Family Health Clinic while he considers further specialization.
“When it comes to pediatrics, I love the transparency and playfulness that a child brings when they’re back to full health, and the great potential they hold in their imaginative brains. They are the future.”
“I’m also looking forward to working with the UNC team back in Malawi, to polish up all the skills and knowledge I have acquired here, as well as to impart it to the upcoming Medical students who are following just behind me.”
Chapel Hill is Home
“Throughout my stay here, I’m happy to say I found a family in Chapel Hill. From being able to experience basketball, baseball and pickleball, trying diverse food and restaurants on Franklin Street, and participating in late night bowling, arcade games, karaoke and trivia, I was warmly welcomed.
Heidi White, MIS, assistant director of the Office of Global Health Education, was a big part of this Carolina hospitality, who not only managed the administrative requirements and onboarding tasks behind the exchange, she invited him to her own birthday party at her house and introduced him to many new experiences.
Charles says the experience showed him that even 1,000 miles away from home, the right people can make you feel all the same. “Chapel Hill is home.”