Workshop & Training · UR CEBE
Hospital Operating Theaters (HOT)
Management, Organization, Technology — a Master-level intensive one-week course, delivered by CEBE Faculty, IRCAD Africa, and an international expert team, in partnership with MoH, RBC-MTD, RMS, and Expertise France-Groupe AFD.
About the Training
The Center of Excellence in Biomedical Engineering and E-Health (CEBE), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH), Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC-MTD), Rwanda Medical Supply (RMS), and IRCAD Africa, supported by Expertise France (Groupe AFD), organized a five-day intensive Master-level course on Hospital Operating Theaters (HOT): Management, Organization, Technology.
Operating theaters represent one of the most critical, resource-intensive, and technologically dense environments in modern healthcare facilities. The HOT workshop is designed to strengthen the technical competence of professionals working with surgical medical devices and to provide an updated perspective on the technological and operational innovations that drive modern, secure surgical care.
The curriculum integrates theoretical lectures, practical case analyses, and field visits to high-level specialized centers — including IRCAD Africa and the new CHUK surgical suites — facilitated by national and international experts in surgery, anesthesiology, biomedical engineering, and hospital technical management.
The purpose of this intensive course was to enhance participants' competencies in the management, operational workflow, architectural organization, and medical device lifecycle of modern hospital operating theaters, in order to ensure clinical safety, efficiency, and advanced surgical care delivery across Rwanda.
Objectives
General Objective: To strengthen the technical, organizational, and managerial capacities of biomedical engineers, surgical clinicians, and health service managers in operating theater technology and clinical flow optimization.
Specific Objectives:
- Master the fundamental principles, historical evolution, architectural requirements, and environmental controls (air treatment, sterilization, medical gases) of operating theaters.
- Enhance understanding of patient pathways, workflow optimization, ambulatory/outpatient surgery, and Réhabilitation Améliorée Après Chirurgie (RAAC) protocols.
- Deepen technical knowledge of key surgical medical devices (operating tables, surgical lighting, electrosurgical units, anesthesia and ventilation machines, perfusion systems, and OT imaging) regarding specifications, procurement, and maintenance.
- Review specialized surgical techniques, including laparoscopy, endoscopy, sterilization circuit quality control, and surgical sub-specialties (gastrointestinal, OB/GYN, dental, cardiac).
- Explore emerging trends in surgical care across Africa, including surgical robotics, low-cost intraoperative imaging, and simulation.
- Facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue between surgical teams, biomedical engineers, technical hospital directors, and institutional leaders.
Expected Outputs
By the end of the training:
- Participants mastered the technical specifications, procurement standards, and maintenance requirements of core surgical and anesthesia equipment.
- Participants gained an understanding of sterile workflow design, autoclave technology, infection prevention, and architectural constraints within surgical suites.
- Participants gained practical insights through institutional tours of IRCAD Africa and the new CHUK operating theater installations.
- Surgical teams, hospital engineers, and regulatory leads strengthened cross-functional coordination for effective operating room management.
- Participants completed a formal assessment and received academic validation of the knowledge and skills acquired.
Programme Format
Venue
UR CEBE – Regional Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Engineering and eHealth (Kigali-Masoro), with technical field visits to IRCAD Africa (Masaka) and the new CHUK site.
Dates & Duration
Monday 14 – Friday 18 September 2026
Five (5) days, 09:00–17:00 daily, with 15-minute coffee breaks (10:30 & 15:30) and a 60-minute lunch break (12:30).
Roles and Responsibilities
- Manage academic coordination, course delivery, venue infrastructure, and evaluation administration.
- Coordinate participant selection and facilitator communication in partnership with UR.
- Host practical sessions and facilitate specialized demonstrations.
- Contribute senior clinical training expertise.
- Mobilize international experts and support programme alignment.
- Provide overall logistical support, including participant catering, transport allowances, course materials, and certificate production.
- Provide policy leadership and mobilize hospital staff across clinical networks.
- Lead technical module sessions.
Daily Programme
Introduction of Participants and Lecturers — Welcome remarks and brief introductions from MoH, RBC/MTD, CEBE, AFD, and EF Group; round of introductions; evaluation test of participants' prior knowledge.
Fundamentals and Innovations in Modern Operating Theaters — A brief history of operating theaters and their logical evolution over a century: infection control, gradual induction of anesthesia, surgical specialties, laparoscopy, outpatient surgery, changes in architecture. François Langevin
The Management of Patients in Surgery — The organizing patient care pathway in surgery: principles and processes, RAAC evolution. Sophie Di Maria, Charles Nsengiyumva
Basic Surgical Devices: Principles, Specifications, Procurement and Maintenance — Surgical lights, operating tables, ventilators and anesthesia equipment, electrosurgical units, monitors, perfusion, air filtration, medical fluid supply systems, OT echographers and image intensifiers. Vincent Belviso
General Surgery and Main Specialities — Gastrointestinal surgery, obstetrics and gynecology surgery, and dental surgery. Charles Nsengiyumva
Specific Surgical Techniques (1) — Laparoscopy, endoscopes and associated devices. Sterilization Devices and Organisation — Technology of autoclaves, circuit of sterilization, quality control, infection control. Vincent Belviso
Principles of Modern Anesthesia — Anesthesia from consultation, induction, control, wakening. Optimization of Patient Flows — Workflow in the operating room: how to optimize? Sophie Di Maria
IRCAD Visit — Specific Surgical Techniques (2). Vincent Belviso
New CHUK Site Visit: Operating Theaters — Architecture and installation constraints. Anicet Cyusa, Jean Baptiste Dusenge
Future of Surgery in Africa — Robotics, low-cost imaging, and simulation. Cardiac Surgery. Charles Nsengiyumva, Vincent Belviso, Sophie Di Maria
Academic Validation — Assessment and validation of acquired knowledge.
Facilitators & Resource Persons
The programme is delivered jointly by CEBE faculty, a French expert team of hospital engineers and researchers, and national and institutional experts, with additional technical facilitators from MoH and RMS.
CEBE Faculty:
Gérard Rushingabigwi
Associate Professor · Head of the UR-CST/CEBE MSC. Degree Program in Biomedical Engineerin
Célestin Twizere
Professor · Director of CEBE
French Expert Team:
François Langevin
Emeritus Professor & Researcher (UTC) · President, FL IH International
Sophie Di Maria
Senior Anesthesiologist · Former Director, Ambulatory Surgery Unit, Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris
Vincent Belviso
Hospital Engineer · Technical Director, Nord Ardennes Hospital Group
National & Institutional Experts:
Charles Nsengiyumva
Senior Obstetrician-Gynecologist Surgeon · CEO, IRCAD Africa
Jean Baptiste Dusenge
Director, Medical Electromechanical Unit, RBC
Anicet Cyusa
Expert in Health Technology Management, RBC
A partnership with facilitators from: Ministry of Health (MoH), RBC-MTD, and RMS — sponsored by Expertise France (Groupe AFD).
Target Participants
- Biomedical engineers and technicians from national, referral, and teaching hospitals.
- Medical and paramedical surgical staff, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, and theater nurses.
- Hospital "hot floor" managers, clinical coordinators, and technical facility directors.
- Policy leads, biomedical division officers, and procurement specialists from MoH, RBC-MTD, and RMS.
- Postgraduate students and academic staff from UR-CEBE.
Training Gallery
Hospital Operating Theaters (HOT) Training — UR CEBE, Kigali, September 2026.