Angola

Overview

In 2010, after discussions with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Health, I-TECH began collaborating with a young academic institution, Universidade José Eduardo dos Santos (UJES) in Angola. Since the end of its civil war in 2002, Angola has been working to rebuild its health care infrastructure and increase the capacity of its health workforce.  The primary goal of I-TECH’s programming in Angola is to strengthen the pre-service education of increasing numbers of medical, nursing, and allied health students in Huambo province.

Project Highlights

In August 2010, I-TECH conducted individual and focus group interviews at UJES School of Medicine and Polytecnic Institute and the Hospital Geral do Huambo (part of the Provincial Health Department, DPS) to determine possible areas of collaboration. Several recommendations were made, including a focus on the clinical training of medical students.

In response to these recommendations, I-TECH conducted an assessment to determine the readiness of five clinical sites (hospitals and health centers), which already serve as practicum sites for nursing and allied health students, to receive third-year medical students. I-TECH identified areas for strengthening the sites. Over the coming years, I-TECH plans to build the capacity of UJES and the DPS to provide quality clinical education for all cadres of health workers at these and other sites within the province.

Currently, I-TECH’s field manager, based in Huambo, provides day-to-day support to UJES and clinical practicum sites, and coordinates the work of visiting I-TECH technical advisors. With experience in clinical education in a variety of countries, including Mozambique (which, like Angola, uses Portuguese as its main language), technical advisors offer training to clinical faculty and guidance in improving the quality of clinical care.

Other current and future activities include:

• Training and mentoring of clinical preceptors and faculty in teaching methods, student assessment, HIV/AIDS and strategies to reduce maternal mortality.
• Training and mentoring of administrators to coordinate and manage practica, and develop new sites.
• Training and technical assistance to improve service delivery at clinical sites.
• Provision of supplies and equipment for teaching and biosafety.
• Piloting of distance learning technologies for course delivery.