Table 2.

Host-perceived benefits of HIC involvement in Kijabe Hospital

Themes	Frequency	Representative excerpts
Positive learning Experiences	41 (95.3%)	“They teach you, they teach you, they teach you. And if you don't understand, they still want to sit with you. Tell you this is what we should do on this condition. They make you like you think wide, think out of the box.” – Clinical Officer Intern “I enjoyed working with all the residents I got to work with because most of them had the gift of teaching, if I may put it that way.” – Resident
Approachable teachers	12 (27.9%)
Skilled teachers	10 (23.3%)
Increased autonomy	9 (20.9%)
Humble teachers	8 (18.6%)
Patient teachers	5 (11.6%)
Capacity building	36 (83.7%)	“Their objectives were to come and increase our capacity, specifically in more complex cases such as free flap surgery.” – Faculty “I learned most of my surgical skills, you know, ties and how to hold the instrument from the resident, the visiting resident.” – Resident
Surgical skills	31 (72.1%)
Clinical skills	23 (53.5%)
Research skills	7 (16.3%)
Broader perspectives	32 (74.4%)	“[We] are used to the usual Kenyan system of doing stuff. But you meet people who have a different perspective, and…it makes you integrate the two systems.” – Resident “So, there's a lot of stuff we learn in theory which we don't do here. A lot of technology, a lot of latest things people are doing we don't do. So, I think now when you have residents, they tell us this is what we do and this is it. So at least it's nice to hear it from someone who's actually done it rather than just reading books.” – Faculty
Evidence-based medicine	9 (20.9%)
Theoretical/Textbook topics	7 (16.3%)
High-resource systems	6 (14.0%)
Different technology	4 (9.3%)
Improved work ethic	22 (51.2%)	“They really showed great commitment to the patients. And they gave their very all, their time, and their experience and knowledge. And they pushed us to do the same, to make sure we were giving our very best to our patients.” – Medical Officer Intern “Again, their work ethic. They go the extra mile. They say there is no traffic on the extra mile, so they are willing to drive through it. I've slept in theater with one of them because of a very busy night when the rest of the country was on strike, and I really am glad about that.” – Resident
Shared workload	19 (44.2%)	“[Visiting] faculty would come to assist us in covering when we're away, when we're on conferences, when we're on holidays, when we're on our home assignments. So, we'll have faculty come out and help cover. So, I think that's been valuable…” – Faculty “Here in Kijabe we are a bit, there are times we are short staffed, especially when you have some of our local surgeons or local doctors going on leave…we tend to become short staffed. So, when we have some visiting consultants, or residents, or even medical students, they tend to sort of help balance the load.” – Medical Officer Intern
Faculty coverage	15 (34.9%)
Access to resources	18 (41.9%)	“They also help us bring like…donated implants and equipment, which is a big help. But that's the consultants who help us with that.” – Faculty “In terms of access to papers, they shared a lot of that with us.” – Resident
Donated equipment	12 (27.9%)
Educational materials	5 (11.6%)
Contributions to patient care	18 (41.9%)	“Vascular surgery is not something we would typically do here. So, it's important to acknowledge those kinds of cases where patients get sub specialized care, which they wouldn't otherwise get from our local faculty.” – Resident “[A] lot of them come as missionaries, in my opinion. Maybe missionaries in terms of missionary doctors to reach out to maybe the vulnerable communities, that is one. And then, and offer maybe free services as volunteers, volunteer doctors.” – Medical Officer Intern
Specialty services	10 (23.3%)
Free services	3 (7.0%)
Mentorship	16 (37.2%)	“And therefore, as an individual, I really appreciate their presence. I've told you that they have already influenced my practice from the time I was a young medical student up to now.” – Faculty “And also, their encouragement. They also want to give you their personal experience, where they have been in US, how they started their residency, how it is, the life of residents when you are outside, you know Africa. So those kinds of experiences make you understand that you're not alone, and they've gone through it.” – Resident
Confidence	8 (18.6%)
Encouragement	6 (14.0%)

Host-perceived benefits that were expressed by > 20% of participants are shown in bold with sub-codes listed below each major benefit. Sub-codes are not mutually exclusive and thus should not necessarily add up to 100%