It is with profound sadness that we heard the passing away of Prof. Edemariam Tsega, Associate Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences on January 1, 2018, in Canada.
It is with profound sadness that we heard the passing away of Prof. Edemariam Tsega, Associate Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences on January 1, 2018, in Canada.
Prof. Edemariam Tsega, BSc (AAU 1961), MDCM (McGill, 1965), was the first Ethiopian Professor of Internal Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia. He obtained the DCMT from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK in 1969, and, after Rotating Internship and Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology training at the Montreal General Hospital, McGill University, the Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (1971), and Diploma of the American Board of Internal Medicine. His PhD in Virology from Lund University, Malmo, Sweden was completed in 1991 and he was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Research Fellowship for Sabbatical as Visiting Professor, at McGill University in 1991.
In 1971, Prof. Edemariam returned to Ethiopia and worked in the Faculty of Medicine, AAU, for twenty-three years as Internist and Gastroenterologist teaching clinical medicine and endoscopic & laparoscopic skills to residents and teachers; Clinical Researcher with generous grants from SAREC and AAU with emphasis on viral hepatitis, acute and chronic liver diseases, and gastritis, among others. Prof. Edemariam’s most important and gratifying administrative contribution was the establishment of the first Postgraduate Program in Ethiopia. Also the first Gastroenterology Unit was started and expanded by him. He was a Medical Director and Internist at Leul Mekonnen Hospital, Harar, and Haile Selassie I Hospital, AA for a time in 1971-2, and later Head of the Department of Internal Medicine, AAU 1974-91. He joined the Faculty of Medicine AAU in 1972, becoming full Professor in 1981. He was chairman of the Faculty of Medicine Graduate Commission, served on many committees of AAU and the Ministry of Health, and was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, AAU, 1992-4.
In addition to his academic, research and administrative work, he was actively involved in the Ethiopian Medical and other professional associations, including presidency of the Confederation of African Medical Associations in 1989-90. He returned to Ethiopia for one month teaching sessions in the Gondar Faculty of Medicine several times, 1999 – 2008, as Visiting Professor of Medicine under the auspices of the Third World Academy of Sciences. He received many honors and awards. In Canada, he worked as internist in Newfoundland (Memorial University) 1994-2001, and McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, retiring as Professor Emeritus in December 2014. The Ethiopian Academy of Sciences passes its deepest condolences to families, friends and colleagues of Prof. Edemariam. May his soul rest in peace.