Sarah W. Prager, MD, MAS, UW professor in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology who is also the director of the family planning division and FP fellowship, taking her sabbatical leave joined the department of OBGYN at SPHMMC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in Sept. 2019. The main aim of her move was to strengthen the FP fellowship and overall RH service at SPHMMC. She was warmly welcomed by all the faculty. After her arrival, she managed to integrate very well within a very short period of time and became an active member of the OBGYN faculty.
Prof. Prager interacted with all levels of health care providers and played an integral role in training the fellows, residents, medical interns, and midwives on comprehensive abortion care and family planning. She provided hands-on training on several procedures for the fellows including laparoscopic surgeries.
She made a crucial contribution to the planning and execution of the first national reproductive health symposium held at SPHMMC. In addition, with the family planning fellows, she co-authored manuscripts that are now published in both local and international peer-reviewed journals. She also supervised the development of department protocol for the provision of abortion care service.
Though her stay was cut short due to the global pandemic, Sarah maintained her role and continued the weekly teaching sessions virtually. She is also available for consultations over the phone or via email and is currently assisting the fellows in writing manuscripts for publication.
While we are saddened by her sudden departure we are also delighted that she will continue to support the family planning fellowship remotely through different ways. We wish Sarah well and will miss her joyful presence on our wards.