Kenyan medical student and consultant experiences in a pilot decentralized training program at the University of Nairobi.

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, the University of Nairobi (UoN) has increased the number of enrolled medical students threefold in response to the growing need for more doctors. This has resulted in a congested clinical training environment and limited opportunities for students to practice clinical skills at the tertiary teaching facility. To enhance the clinical experience, the UoN Medical Education Partnership Initiative Program Undertook training of medical students in non-tertiary hospitals around the country under the mentorship of consultant preceptors at these hospitals. This study focused on the evaluation of the pilot decentralized training rotation. METHODS: The decentralized training program was piloted in October 2011 with 29 fourth-year medical students at four public hospitals for a 7-week rotation. We evaluated student and consultant experiences using a series of focus group discussions. A three-person team developed the codes for the focus groups and then individually and anonymously coded the transcripts. The team's findings were triangulated to confirm major themes. RESULTS: Before the rotation, the students expressed the motivation to gain more clinical experience as they felt they lacked adequate opportunity to exercise clinical skills at the tertiary referral hospital. By the end of the rotation, the students felt they had been actively involved in patient care, had gained clinical skills and had learned to navigate socio-cultural challenges in patient care. They further expressed their wish to return to those hospitals for future practice. The consultants expressed their motivation to teach and mentor students and acknowledged that the academic interaction had positively impacted on patient care. DISCUSSION: The decentralized training enhanced students' learning by providing opportunities for clinical and community experiences and has demonstrated how practicing medical consultants can be engaged as preceptors in students learning. This training may also increase students' ability and willingness to work in rural and underserved areas.

Expanding clinical medical training opportunities at the University of Nairobi: adapting a regional medical education model from the WWAMI program at the University of Washington.

A major medical education need in Sub-Saharan Africa includes expanding clinical training opportunities to develop health professionals. Medical education expansion is a complicated process that requires significant investment of financial and human resources, but it can also provide opportunities for innovative approaches and partnerships. In 2010, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief launched the Medical Education Partnership Initiative to invest in medical education and health system strengthening in Africa. Building on a 30-year collaborative clinical and research training partnership, the University of Nairobi in Kenya developed a pilot regional medical education program modeled on the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) medical education program at the University of Washington in the United States. The University of Nairobi adapted key elements of the WWAMI model to expand clinical training opportunities without requiring major capital construction of new buildings or campuses. The pilot program provides short-term clinical training opportunities for undergraduate students and recruits and trains clinical faculty at 14 decentralized training sites. The adaptation of a model from the Northwestern United States to address medical education needs in Kenya is a successful transfer of knowledge and practices that can be scaled up and replicated across Sub-Saharan Africa.