A 1991 graduate of Kenai Central High School recently had the opportunity to work in Ethiopia after being awarded a traveling fellowship by Or-thopaedics Overseas.
Scott Innes spent four weeks at the Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethio-pia's national teaching hospital, teaching residents how to fix hip fractures.
While many health service organizations provide free medical care, Orthopaedics Overseas volunteers train local physicians and health care pro-viders within the context of the country's existing medical service, ex-plained Innes' mother, Sherry Innes of Kenai.
During his time in Ethio-pia, a country of 67 million people, Scott reported "that the people are friendly and, overall, things seem pretty safe."
He traveled to other parts of the country during his stay, including a visit to Lalibela, an ancient city famous for 11 churches carved out of solid rock in the 12th century.
This was Innes' second trip to Africa. After completing medical school at the University of Washington in 2000, he spent 10 weeks as a volunteer at Tumutumu Hospital in Karatina, Kenya.
The hospital was founded around 1900 by Scottish Presbyterian missionaries and enjoys a reputation of providing excellent medical care.
While there, he also climbed Mount Kenya, the second highest mountain on the African continent. Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest.
Born and raised in Kenai, Innes is completing the fourth year of a five-year orthopedic surgical program at the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, Calif.
He graduated No. 1 in his class from Yale University in 1995.
He plans to return to Alaska after his residency.
