Rajiv Singal

“We are blessed to live and work in Canada. Healthcare in my view is a basic human right and I want to advocate for that. If we invest in health and safe communities around the world, we all benefit.” – Rajiv Singal, 2024

Associate Professor Rajiv Singal [Urology] is the Surgeon in Chief at Michael Garron Hospital. While his guiding principle of training and investing in local surgical expertise has taken him to several places in the developing world, including Kenya, Uganda and China, his primary focus has been in Malawi. He has also been actively involved with developing urologic capacity in rural Jamaica (alongside Dr. Lee Errett).

Dr. Singal views himself as having had a very lucky life. He credits all that he has to being the beneficiary of an emigration decision his parents made many years ago. He views that most of the world does not live in circumstances that allow for many basic things.

Dr. Singal first travelled to Malawi in 2016 because he was at a point in his life where his children were older and more self-sufficient. At that time, there were no certified urologists in the entire country as retention of talent was significantly impaired. Clinical officers provided the majority (if any) of the most basic of care. Recognizing the importance of training identified individuals within accredited African programs through the College of Surgeons of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa, Dr. Singal decided to create a fund through the University of Toronto to support physician training. There are now 3 urologists in the country, and it is anticipated that this number will double by the end of 2025 and the program has expanded to training anaesthetists as well.

• Blog: http://www.rajivsingal.com/blogs/archive

• Urology donation link: https://uoft.me/urologyglobalhealth