Dr. Mumba Chalwe-Kaja broke ground as Zambia’s female urological surgeon. From a young age, Chalwe-Kaja was fascinated with science and medicine. She knew she had found her calling when she met a kind and caring female doctor who treated her and her sister.
She has since gone on to defy the odds, making a name for herself in global surgery in the process. The trailblazer was drawn into urology with the vision to break stereotypes in the male-dominated field.
She told the Zambian Observer, “Medicine was always a childhood dream. Urology on the other hand was a career choice based on many factors. I love challenges and the surgical field offered this. Urology as a specialty is dynamic and the fact that Zambia had no female representation. The desire to defy stereotypes and make a positive impact on people’s lives was a huge motivation.”
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She first earned a doctorate from Rayzan Medical University, and then she went on to pursue a master’s degree in urology from the University of Zambia. She subsequently rose to the rank of Associate Fellow at the American College of Surgeons and Fellow at the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA).
In 2019, she served as the first William Crain Global Surgical Fellow in the Stanford Urology Department, specializing in uro-oncology. She is also an Associate Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
With a professional practice spanning 15 years, Chalwe-Kaja is currently the Head of Urology at Ndola Teaching Hospital and a urologist with the Zambian Ministry of Health.
Apart from her work as a surgeon, she is also an author. She wrote “The Beginners Guide to Urology,” a survival guide for urology in developing nations that aims to demystify the discipline for those who want to become doctors. She also does TEDx talks.
Chalwe-Kaja’s impact is felt far beyond the operation room. As a Principal Investigator at the Tropical Disease Research Centre, she also oversees research on prostate cancer, making a substantial contribution to Zambia’s medical progress, according to Hbeoline.
She also demonstrates her dedication to the academic side of medicine by serving as an Associate Editor at The Annals of African Surgery, where she collaborates and carries out research to mold the direction of African surgery.
In addition, Chalwe-Kaja is a co-founder of Stiletto Ink, a wellness and lifestyle group in the area that caters to the sexual and reproductive health of adults.
The pioneer presently serves as the chairperson of the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa’s Women in Surgery Africa (WiSA) board.
According to AIS Channel, she was recognized as Zambia’s first female urologist in 2018 with the PUSH Women’s Award and as a Gold Medalist for academic excellence by the COSECSA that same year.
Chalwe-Kaja has one goal in mind for every position she takes on: to make a difference and spur change both inside and outside of her community.
She remarked, “I dream of an Africa where we are not “graded” on our ability to cook nshima on a fire but rather are given a fair chance to achieve our goals using our God-given abilities. An Africa where we no longer have to feel the need for validation through marital status. We must normalize feminine excellence to a point that our gender is no longer an issue to be considered.”
