ID-5184 Wonca Abstracts supplement A-K 13-10-23 - Flipbook - Page 94
WONCA 2023 Supplement 1: WONCA 2023 abstracts (A–K)
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Leveraging an international health rotation in Uganda for
capacity building in non-communicable disease (NCD)
screening and management
Dr John Borowski1,2, Shai Pintov2
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Maccabi Healthcare Services, 2Bilu Uganda
Israeli doctors have been visiting the Rural District Hospital in Kiboga, Uganda, under the auspices
of several NGOs for over a decade. In 2021, the Scientific Council of the Israel Medical Association
accredited Kiboga Hospital as a training site for a two-month elective rotation in international health for
Israeli family medicine residents.
Following a 20-hour preparatory course, the first family medicine residents rotated to Kiboga Hospital
in 2022–23. During the rotation, residents’ time was evenly split between the hospital – working and
learning about tropical medicine in the resource-limited rural Ugandan context – and the development
and expansion of non-communicable disease (NCD) programs under the guidance of the District
Health Officer and of the NGO ‘Bilu Uganda’. Through local staff training and support, residents made
a serious contribution to building capacity for NCD screening, diagnosis and management with an
emphasis on hypertension, type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Multiple NCD
clinics have been established or expanded and hundreds of Ugandans with NCDs now have regular
access to care. Initial qualitative evaluation has been very encouraging. Residents have expressed
extremely high satisfaction with the educational and capacity-building elements of the elective. The
residents have been well received by local healthcare workers and patients. The leaders of the NCD
program feel that the continued work of the visiting residents provides a model for ongoing capacity
building which helps ensure sustainable NCD care for the community.
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