Pulmonologist

You specialise in the lungs and respiratory system – and tuberculosis, asthma, and air pollution make this vital across Africa.

What this life looks like

Every breath depends on the lungs working properly. As a Pulmonologist you specialise in diagnosing and treating diseases of the respiratory system – the lungs, airways, and the structures that control breathing. You manage conditions ranging from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to tuberculosis, pneumonia, lung cancer, and the rare but serious interstitial lung diseases that scar lung tissue over time. In Africa pulmonology carries particular weight. Tuberculosis remains one of Africa's most devastating infectious diseases, killing hundreds of thousands of people each year. South Africa and Nigeria are among the world's highest-burden TB countries. The co-epidemic of HIV and TB creates complex, difficult-to-treat cases that require specialist pulmonological expertise. Air quality in rapidly growing African cities is deteriorating, driving rising rates of asthma and respiratory disease. And pneumonia remains the leading infectious cause of child death globally. The pulmonologist working in Africa is on the frontline of some of the continent's most urgent infectious and non-communicable disease challenges simultaneously.

What she actually does

A Pulmonologist diagnoses and treats respiratory conditions including tuberculosis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, lung cancer, and interstitial lung disease. They perform and interpret pulmonary function tests, conduct bronchoscopy to examine the airways and obtain tissue for diagnosis, manage patients on mechanical ventilation in intensive care, and work closely with infectious disease specialists on TB and HIV-TB co-infection management.

Where you can work

Sector	Places in Africa
Respiratory medicine units and TB wards in teaching hospitals	Tikur Anbessa (Black Lion) Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa; Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria
Chest clinics and respiratory outpatient departments	University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu); University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria; Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
TB treatment and research programmes	South Africa's National TB Programme (NDoH); Stop TB Partnership programmes across West & East Africa; Ethiopia's national TB programme under the Ministry of Health
HIV clinics managing respiratory complications	HIV/TB co-infection clinics in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (high-burden province); infectious disease clinics in Uganda and Zimbabwe managing HIV-related pulmonary TB
Private respiratory medicine practice	Netcare and Mediclinic hospital groups (South Africa); private specialist practice in Cairo, Egypt and Nairobi, Kenya
Academic pulmonology departments	Division of Pulmonology, University of Cape Town; Department of Paediatrics/Pulmonology, University of Nigeria; Addis Ababa University School of Medicine

Why it matters in Africa

Africa carries 25 percent of the global TB burden. Drug-resistant TB is a growing crisis requiring highly specialist management. The HIV-TB co-epidemic in southern and eastern Africa creates a massive burden of complex respiratory disease. Asthma affects an estimated 62 million people in Africa, many of them children, and is significantly underdiagnosed and undertreated.

Your pathway in

Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics at secondary school. Then MBBS or MBChB over five to six years, followed by housemanship. Internal medicine residency then subspecialty fellowship in pulmonology and critical care through the West African College of Physicians or equivalent body follows. The full pathway takes approximately 12 to 14 years.

Skills you will need

Technical: Bronchoscopy, pulmonary function testing, management of respiratory failure and mechanical ventilation, TB diagnosis and treatment including drug-resistant TB protocols, pleural procedures, and critical care management. Human: The ability to manage patients with chronic breathlessness and anxiety about their condition, communication with TB patients who may face stigma, resilience in intensive care settings where outcomes can be poor, and the ability to explain complex respiratory physiology in simple terms. Digital tools: Spirometry and pulmonary function testing systems, bronchoscopy platforms, digital chest imaging and CT interpretation tools, and electronic TB management systems.

A woman in this field

Dr. Lindiwe Mvusi

South Africa

South African pulmonologist and former Director of Tuberculosis Control at the South African National Department of Health, where she led the national TB programme during a critical period of scaling up diagnosis and treatment. She has been a prominent figure in South Africa's efforts to address the TB and drug-resistant TB epidemics and has contributed to policy development at national and international levels.

Take your first step

Start by learning about tuberculosis and why it remains so prevalent in Africa despite being curable. The Stop TB Partnership and WHO both have excellent free resources. Biology and Chemistry are your core subjects. If you or anyone in your family has asthma or breathing difficulties, you already have a personal connection to respiratory medicine. The Global Initiative for Asthma has freely accessible educational materials that will give you a solid foundation in the most common respiratory condition you will encounter in this specialty.