From Cotonou to Algiers: why nuclear medicine

When the time came to choose a specialty, I went into nuclear medicine.

I chose it because it combines imaging, physics and calculation. The patient is given a radioactive tracer, its distribution in the body is measured, and the interpretation of the images rests on radiation physics. A scan is interpreted only after all the images and measurements have been analysed.

Specialising in Algiers

At the time there was no nuclear medicine specialty training pathway in Benin. To specialise, I had to go abroad. In February 2023 I began my specialisation at Bab El Oued University Hospital in Algiers: scintigraphy, PET imaging, iodine-131 therapies, thyroid and myocardial studies, radiation protection for patients and staff. As of 2026, I am completing my specialisation in nuclear medicine.

Nuclear medicine is still little developed in West Africa. That is another reason I chose it. My aim is to practise it in Benin, to take part in teaching it and to build tools for the discipline.