Winners of the Dr Donald Li Global YDM Scholarship 2026

WONCA is pleased to announce the three recipients of the 2026 Dr Donald Li Global Young Doctors Movement (YDM) Scholarship. Each recipient receives a USD $2,500 bursary to support their attendance at a WONCA regional or rural conference in 2026, covering registration, travel, visa costs, and accommodation.

The scholarship is open to family medicine trainees and early-career family doctors from low- and middle-income countries who are active members of their regional Young Doctors Movement. It was established to reduce financial barriers to international conference participation and to support the development of the next generation of primary care leaders. WONCA is grateful to Dr. Donald Li, Past President of WONCA, for his generous and continuing support of this initiative.

Dr. M.I.M. Shuja — Sri Lanka

Dr. Mohamed Iqbal Mohamed Shuja is a general practitioner and Lecturer in Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. His work spans undergraduate medical education, community-based research, and rural health development in one of Sri Lanka's more underserved regions.

Dr. Shuja is active across several areas of primary care research. His work includes studies on reproductive and menstrual health among university students, stress and academic outcomes in medical students, and prescribing practices among doctors and future doctors. He also has a strong interest in planetary health and climate change as they relate to primary care. Alongside his research, he has led community awareness activities on snakebite first aid, countering harmful traditional practices that continue to cost lives in rural areas.

He serves as a WONCA Rural SEEDS Ambassador and as a Council Member of the Young Doctors Movement Sri Lanka, contributing to primary care leadership development at both national and international levels. One of his research abstracts has been accepted for presentation at the WONCA World Rural Health Conference 2026 in Wellington, New Zealand.

Dr. Shuja applied for the scholarship under particularly difficult personal circumstances, following his family's experience of significant losses during Cyclone Ditwa. His dedication to rural health equity in Sri Lanka has remained constant throughout.

"I want to learn from global experts and bring that knowledge back to improve rural primary care in my country."

Dr. Fridah Kiptui — Kenya

Dr. Fridah Kiptui is a Family Physician at AGC Tenwek Hospital in rural Southwest Kenya, where she has worked for seven years, including her years of training. She also serves as Deputy Program Coordinator for Family Medicine at Tenwek and as junior faculty at Kabarak University, where she mentors family medicine residents.

Her clinical leadership extends across several service areas. She heads both the Advanced HIV Services and Diabetes Services at Tenwek Hospital, coordinating care teams, organising treatment support for patients who cannot afford medication, and overseeing quality improvement work. She is also a trained POCUS instructor, using point-of-care ultrasound skills in community rheumatic heart disease screening campaigns, reflecting the particular disease burden of her region.

Beyond the hospital, Dr. Kiptui is a member of Nitibu Network, a grassroots initiative that brings medical camps directly to communities, combining treatment, chronic disease management, and early referral with community diagnosis and advocacy for local solutions. Her published research includes work on caregivers' beliefs about herbal medicine use in children under five.

She applied for the scholarship after seeing Donald Li scholars recognised at WONCA World in Lisbon in 2025.

"It means a lot to me and to my early career. I pray it will be useful not only to me, but also to my institution at large."

Dr. Muhammad Hassam Khan — Pakistan

Dr. Muhammad Hassam Khan is a Family Physician, academic, and researcher based in Peshawar, Pakistan. He serves as a Lecturer at the Institute of Family Medicine, Khyber Medical University, and as General Secretary of the Executive Council of Spice Route YDM South Asia (WONCA Young Doctors Movement), supporting regional collaboration and the professional development of young family physicians.

His research focuses on strengthening primary care delivery, with two ongoing projects as principal investigator: one on generative artificial intelligence in primary care and another on diabetes self-management education in primary care settings. He has presented at the WONCA South Asia Regional Conference and actively engages in digital health and AI, including participation in international health hackathons.

Dr. Khan has trained over 1,000 community members in emergency response (CPR and bleeding control) through the Pakistan Life Savers Programme. He also organizes regular free medical camps for orphaned children at Zamung Kor, Peshawar, providing primary care, screening, health education, and referrals..

He serves as Coordinator for the Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety Program at the Institute of Family Medicine, KMU, and is a lead trainer in clinical quality, patient safety, and clinical audit. He has contributed to capacity-building initiatives for primary care staff in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in collaboration with WHO, ICRC, and MERF-BMGF, and has been recognized for his contributions to healthcare quality, family medicine, primary care, and public health.

"“I am deeply honored to have been selected. As someone engaged in family medicine teaching, clinical practice, and research, it is particularly encouraging to receive recognition through WONCA under the leadership of Donald Li. I sincerely thank my parent institute, Khyber Medical University - especially the Institute of Family Medicine and Prof. Dr. Abdul Jalil Khan for their trust, mentorship, and continued support. This recognition motivates me to work even harder in the future.”"

WONCA remains committed to promoting equity in global health by facilitating access for family doctors from low- and middle-income countries to critical professional development opportunities such as WONCA Conferences. Scholarships like the Dr Donald Li Global YDM Scholarship make a real difference to individual careers, to institutions, and to the communities these doctors serve. We congratulate all three recipients and look forward to hearing about their experiences.

For more information about the Dr Donald Li Global YDM Scholarship, including eligibility criteria and how to apply, please visit the scholarship page on the WONCA website.