On 26-28 January, senior doctors from the West African College of Physicians (WACP) are delivering a ‘Doctors as educators’ course in Accra, Ghana, aimed at increasing medical training capacity in West Africa. The course marks the next stage of the ambitious RCP/WACP M-PACT* project; building local capacity to tackle HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis – the diseases targeted by the UN’s MDG 6.
On 26-28 January, senior doctors from the West African College of Physicians (WACP) are delivering a ‘Doctors as educators’ course in Accra, Ghana, aimed at increasing medical training capacity in West Africa. The course marks the next stage of the ambitious RCP/WACP M-PACT* project; building local capacity to tackle HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis – the diseases targeted by the UN’s MDG 6.
The 3 day training courses comprise of workshops on teaching and learning theory, as well as management, supervision and assessment in the workplace, and will develop the skills necessary for the effective training and supervision of trainees. Both courses are fully subscribed with more demand for places than could be matched.
The ‘Doctors as educators’ courses will be followed by a series of clinical skills training courses in Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal. These courses will focus on the management of HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and outbreak investigations, and will help establish regional centres of excellence for the treatment of these diseases.
Volunteer RCP members and fellows will deliver the clinical skills courses in partnership with a WACP faculty at each centre. In October 2014, course organisers from the two colleges met in London to finalise the content and structure of the courses, where it was decided that the syllabus will incorporate the treatment of Ebola and planning for future infectious disease outbreaks.
The overall objective of the project is to deliver 18 courses and reach more than 500 physicians across West Africa. Each doctor who receives training will spend time in a district community hospital in a resource-poor setting to ensure that the benefits of the initiative are shared widely across the population.
WACP representative Dr Tunde Salako described the ‘Doctors as educators’ training programme a valuable tool in 'preparing [junior doctors] for the onerous supervisory role they continue to play in the training of doctors in West Africa.'
He added:
The clinical courses will target medical officers in peripheral hospitals/resident doctors and provide the trainees with the opportunity to learn about the current national policy including new frontiers in the management of TB, HIV, Malaria and their complications.
Professor David Warrell, RCP international director, summarises the importance of M-PACT:
The MDG 6 training centres will become a hub for expert clinical training for doctors from across the region and will increase the number of skilled individuals available to treat and manage HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.
For more information, please contact Morgan Evans, RCP communications and new media adviser, on 020 3075 1468 / 0779 508 8253, or email Morgan.Evans@rcplondon.ac.uk
- Key dates
- 26-28 Jan: ‘Doctors as educators’ course, Accra, Ghana
- 4-6 Feb: ‘Doctors as educators’ course, Ibadan, Nigeria
- 9-13 Feb: Clinical training course, Dakar, Senegal
- 23-27 Feb: Clinical training course, Accra, Ghana
- 23-27 March: Clinical training course, Ibadan, Nigeria
- Images from the RCP/WACP course design meeting in London can be downloaded from the Royal College of Physicians flickr photostream.
*M-PACT project
M-PACT is a three-year joint project by the Royal College of Physicians and the West African College of Physicians. Funded by the Ecobank Foundation, the project aims to work towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 by increasing access to physicians with the requisite clinical skills to manage and treat the diseases that comprise this goal.
The RCP and the WACP would like to thank the Ecobank Foundation for its ongoing support.