Partnership leads to much needed medical health program

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Posted July 5, 2010

By Kyle Glennie

Tyronne Donnon, PhD (standing), speaks to colleagues in TanzaniaMembers of the Faculty of Medicine are set to travel to Tanzania this fall for the launch of a new Masters in Public Health (MPH) program they helped create at a partner university in the east African nation.  A total of 12 Faculty of Medicine members will rotate through Tanzania over the course of a year to work with colleagues at Weill Bugando University College of Health Sciences (WBUCHS).

The creation of the MPH program represents a critical partnership the Faculty of Medicine has with WBUCHS, says Dr. Jennifer Hatfield, associate dean of Global Health and International Partnerships.  “Part of our global health strategy at the Faculty of Medicine is to identify targeted areas to invest our time and human resources in, and eastern Africa is one of our key areas.”

The launch of the program in October is the culmination of about four years of work between the two schools.  The Faculty members, mostly from the Department of Community Health Sciences, have assisted in the development of curriculum modules, learning experiences, student evaluation and assessment tools for the program over that time.   The end result is a program that is badly needed in Tanzania.

“We had about 25 students hoping to take the program and we only have the capacity for around 10 of them.  But because of pressure from the Tanzanian government we’re going to try to squeeze in about 15 to 18 students,” says Dr. Sylvester Ngallaba, who will lead the MPH program for WBUCHS.  “The idea is to have all medical officers in Tanzania complete the MPH program, but right now there is only one other school that offers it.  We will be the second.”

It’s not just students and the people of Tanzania who will benefit from the partnership though.  Aside from contributing to the Global Health and International Partnerships core mission, the collaboration with WBUCHS also enhances the Faculty of Medicine’s global reputation and creates further training opportunities for Faculty members.

“I think this is a great way to expand our own professional development, and personally, it’s an opportunity to do conduct some of my own research in medical education,” explains Tyrone Donnon, PhD, one of the key faculty members who has worked extensively on this project. Donnon will head to Tanzania in November to provide some initial teaching and supervisory support for the program, which will cover subjects such as epidemiology, biostatistics and health management.