Townsville Hospital, Port Moresby General Hospital
Awards
Westpac Outstanding Women
Esther Roibete Apuahe is a neurosurgeon from Morobe, Papua New Guinea, and the first female surgeon in the country.[1] She was born in 1978 in Rabaul and has four sisters.[2] Her father was a school teacher and instilled in Apuahe the importance of education.[2] She is married and has three children.[2] Esther Apuahe has contributed greatly to the field of neurosurgery, especially in the Africa-Asia region.[3]
Esther Apuahe attended grade school in Rabaul and Lae in Papua New Guinea, moving around with her family.[4] She was later selected as an AUSAID scholarship recipient to attend secondary school at Blackheath and Thornburgh College in Australia.[4]
Professional School
Apuahe attended the University of Papua New Guinea in 1998 and graduated in 2002 with a MBBS.[5] From 2008 to 2012, Apuahe earned a Master of Surgery at the University of Papua New Guinea, becoming the first woman to finish the program.[6] Starting in 2015, Apuahe worked on specializing in neurosurgery; she had training through the Royal Australian College.[6]
Career
Prior to her surgical career, Apuahe worked in an emergency department in Rabaul.[5] She also worked one year in pediatrics.[5] In 2007, Apuahe worked at Vanimo General Hospital as a general surgeon, prior to specializing.[7] In 2019, Apuahe was stationed in a one-year neurosurgery placement at Townsville Hospital as part of her training in neurosurgery.[5] In 2015, Apuahe became the neurosurgeon at Port Moresby General Hospital following the death of Papua New Guinea's first neurosurgeon, Dr. William Kaptigau.[7]
Contributions
Esther Apuahe received the Steamships Public Sector Award of the Westpac Outstanding Women, recognizing her journey and work in the field of neurosurgery.[8] Apuahe has contributed to various neuroscience journals on the progress of developing fields of neurosurgery in the Africa-Asia region.[3][7]
Impact on the Africa-Asia Region
As part of efforts to develop the field of neurosurgery throughout Africa and Asia, Esther Apuahe is part of the Africa-Asia Neurosurgery Collaborative Group (ASAFRIN), an initiative to address new and existing brain tumor programs, as there is an increased incidence of neurological cancers in the region.[3] The brain tumor program of Papua New Guinea has a level III out of five, due in part to Apuahe's work.[3]
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