Africa-Press – Uganda. Makerere University together with Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) have been picked to host the regional branch of the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) Institute, this publication has learnt.
The Eastern Africa FAIMER Regional Institute (EAFRI) will train medical trainers, who have been going abroad for similar courses.
EAFRI will be housed at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS) at the School of Medicine.
The new institute will train health professions educators in East African countries including; Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, the Comoros, the Seychelles, and Mauritius. EAFRI will serve East African Community member states including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda. It will also consider applicants from other regions of Africa.
“This program is training the trainers of medical educators in how to train like for teachers. In other words, it will train teachers of health professions,” Dr Damalie Nakanjako, the Principal of MakCHS said during the launch.
“We shall be able to teach health professionals because we have done it for many years. We have an opportunity as the oldest medical school in Uganda to host the training of health professionals educators in East Africa,” she added.
FAIMER was established in 2000 as a non-profit foundation of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). It is a member of Intealth.
EAFRI will be headed by Prof Sarah Kiguli from Makerere University, who will be deputized by Prof Samuel Maling from MUST.
Dr Kiguli said that the institute will close the gap that has existed for so many years.
“We have a big number of students and also many of the people training these doctors are not trained teachers. So this program is supposed to cover that gap, we hope to start in August this year,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of MUST, Dr Joseph Ngonzi, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, said that their collaboration with FAIMER provides a monumental opportunity to benefit from globally pooled expertise and resources in order to enhance excellent health professions education and ensure equitable access to health care for everyone.
Dr Rashmi Vyas, the FAIMER Global Programs Lead said: “We want to enhance the access to health professionals in the region and people who go to this program are health profession educators well situated in their schools. They will learn about education methods, teaching, assessment, and curriculum design leading the path as change agents,” she said.
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