Two major milestones have been acheived in Africa this week, with Royal College of Physicians (RCP) members supporting the East, Central and Southern Africa's first Educational Leaders Meeting in Zambia, and delivering the final clinical skills course of the M-PACT infectious diseases programme in Sierra Leone.
Educational Leaders Meeting in Zambia
An RCP team has been supporting the East, Central and Southern Africa College of Physicians’ (ECSACoP) Educational Leaders Meeting in Lusaka, Zambia this week. This is the first meeting of its kind and brings together leaders in medical education from Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe to finalise the course curriculum for subsequent ECSACoP ‘Train the trainer’ courses scheduled for later this year.
Participants will lead the ECSACoP’s postgraduate training programme which is expected to begin at pilot sites in 2018. Zambia’s minister of health, Dr Chitalu Chilufya, opened the meeting, saying of the new College’s work to expand postgraduate training in the region:
In Zambia we have only 50 registered physicians. We must agree we cannot afford to maintain the way we have always done things. Human resource for health is a critical pillar in our society - we need a sense of urgency.
...we cannot afford to maintain the way we have always done things
Infectious diseases training in Freetown, Sierra Leone
An RCP / West African College of Physicians infectious diseases training course concludes today in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It’s the first time the RCP has delivered training in the country and the final course of the 3-year M-PACT collaboration.
Dr Alastair McGregor, a consultant in infectious diseases, tropical medicine and microbiology at London North West Healthcare NHS Trust, said:
It’s a great privilege to be involved in the third year of the M-PACT programme. This collaboration between the RCP and WACP provides local physicians with the opportunity to refresh their knowledge in HIV, malaria and TB through lectures and workshops delivered by both local and international colleagues.
For me, the added benefit is the exposure to medical practice in a resource limited setting. It is an excellent forum for the exchange of medical knowledge and experience.
RCP members are participating in an Oncology 'Train the Trainers' course in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania next week as part of the ‘METAF’ collaboration with the British Council and the East African Development Bank.
