UK HealthCast: Practicing ENT in Kenya
UK HealthCast is a podcast series featuring interviews with UK HealthCare experts on a variety of health-related topics.
On this edition of UK HealthCast, Dr. Bryce Noblitt, a head and neck surgeon, a UK College of Medicine faculty member and medical missionary working in Kenya, shares his unique story — one that spotlights the impact of compassionate health care and global collaboration.
Read below for a summary of Dr. Noblitt’s conversation. For more information about his work in Kenya, visit Kenya Hear.
From Kentucky to Kenya
Dr. Noblitt developed a passion for medicine in his native Louisville. He eventually enrolled in the UK College of Medicine, where he discovered his calling in otolaryngology (ENT). Guided by mentors like Dr. Matthew Bush, chair of UK’s ENT program, Dr. Noblitt honed his skills and cultivated a deep understanding of providing care in underserved areas.
After nine years as a student and resident at UK HealthCare, Dr. Noblitt took his expertise to Kenya’s Kijabe Hospital. Located in a rural village, this 363-bed facility serves not only the local population but also patients from across Kenya and neighboring countries. The hospital’s mission aligns with one for which both Dr. Noblitt and UK HealthCare strive — bringing advanced care to all.
Navigating cultural and clinical differences
Moving his family — Dr. Noblitt has a wife and four kids, the most recent born in Kenya — was a major adjustment at first, but they’ve found their footing abroad.
“Where we're at in kind of a small village, there's not a whole lot of people, so it's not like a busy, crazy city,” Dr. Noblitt said. “It's more of a nice, calm, forest environment. The people are very nice.”
Dr. Noblitt noted that while many medical conditions—such as tonsillitis, hearing problems, and nosebleeds — are similar between the two countries, delays in care are more frequent in Kenya and can make cases more complex than those seen in the United States. Patients may wait months or even years before seeing a specialist, increasing the difficulty of surgical procedures and reducing the chances of successful outcomes.
Still, the resourcefulness Dr. Noblitt developed during his training in Kentucky prepared him well. He recalls how learning various surgical techniques from UK’s diverse faculty equipped him to adapt to the limitations of a rural hospital in Kenya.
“Whenever you get to train under so many different people, I learned multiple ways of doing things, which has really come in handy in Kenya where you can't always take plan A or even plan B on any given day, but pulling tools out of the bag that I learned from seeing multiple different attendings treat a problem different ways,” Dr. Noblitt said.
Strengthening collaboration for a global future
Dr. Noblitt’s work underscores the value of collaboration. His experiences in Kenya have informed plans for a new initiative that will enable UK ENT residents to complete rotations in Kenya, gaining invaluable global health experience while contributing their skills to underserved communities.
“Training here in Kentucky really set me up well to practice in Kenya,” Dr. Noblitt said, drawing parallels between the healthcare challenges in rural Kenya to those faced by people living in Eastern Kentucky. Both regions face barriers to care, further emphasizing the importance of early diagnosis and prevention at home and far from it.
“I've always been interested in working against global inequalities,” Dr. Noblitt said. “In high school, I was able to take a couple mission trips through my school and church to go serve in an orphanage in South America and do a vision screening camp in Mexico. And I guess those experiences opened my eyes to what life is like for other people in other parts of the world that don't have all the nice things we have in America.”
