Uzima University overview
The establishment of Uzima University is a fruit of the vision of Most. Rev. Zacchaeus Okoth the archbishop of Kisumu. Having been moved by the pain and the challenges experienced by the populace in the region, the Archbishop decided to invest in a medical Education and research enterprise that would address the dire need for the provision of medical services and expertise in Africa especially AMECEA –(A member of Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa) this is a regional consortium of the local churches in the Eastern African region comprising of Episcopal conferences in nine member countries comprising of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, South Sudan, Malawi ,Zambia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Uzima University has a unique clientele owing to the diversity of its catchment area and the multiplicity of its cultural heritage. Uzima University will maximize on the unique heritage from these countries through vital research networks customizing its findings into specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound strategies for the sustainability and development of the region and beyond.
The founding of Uzima University is a salient response to the much awaited initiative in the Great lakes region and beyond. While posing as the greatest challenge to the region, the prevalence of the tropical diseases is a unique opportunity to invest in the education of medical expertise through creation of erudite and integrated medical personnel who will provide a timely and a relevant response to the preventive, curative and management mechanisms of tropical disease and its complications.
The uniqueness of Uzima University is its special community based character through which is strives not only to train medics in numbers, but a unique quality of medical practitioners in the region formed according to the community values and virtues that upholds and respects the dignity of human life from the time of its conception to its natural death.
Inspired by the words of Christ himself, “I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full-Jn 10:10”, Uzima is a Swahili word denoting the fullness of life. The mission of the university is therefore the service of life to its fullness. This is to be attained through a Cosmotheandric approach that integrates the created nature, the human and the Divine aspects of being in the quest of a holistic approach to science and development.
The institution focuses on the acquisition of scientific information through medical education and research as the fundamental axis through which formation, reformation and transformation of healthcare service provision in the continent is attained. The institution has designated a multi disciplinary and interdisciplinary approach to Education and research enterprise to expedite the realization of this vision.
Due to its focus to attain in quality and quantity the number of medical expertise in the region, the institution has consistently in the past endeavored to establish the necessary structure and the supportive human resource to actualize this dream. This is exemplified by the quality of the infrastructure invested in the pre-clinical, clinical campuses and the management systems that are functional at the moment.