International Health Sciences University (Uganda)

Vacancy for Director of Finance

2010-05-25T14:08:00.001+03:00

International Health Sciences University is currently seeking a Director of Finance. The person we require should have at least five years working experience in the finance sector with extensive experience in a multi-cultural organization. A dynamic approach to running the finance department for a young university is a necessity.
Applications should be sent to:
The Vice-Chancellor
International Health Sciences University
P.O. Box 7782 KAMPALA
http://www.ihsu.ac.ug
Application letters, together with a copy of a CV and testimonials, should be sent before the 11 June 2010.

Vacancy for IT Manager

2009-02-05T14:57:00.003+03:00

International Health Sciences University is currently seeking an IT Manager. The person we require should have at least five years working experience in the IT sector with extensive experience in both hardware and software. A creative approach to building and maintaining a network for a young university is a necessity.
Applications should be sent to:
The Vice-Chancellor
International Health Sciences University
P.O. Box 7782 KAMPALA
http://www.ihsu.ac.ug
Application letters, together with a copy of a CV and testimonials, should be sent before the 9 February 2009.

Head of School of Nursing

2008-04-09T16:01:00.002+03:00

International Health Sciences University is currently seeking a Head for the School of Nursing, one of the pioneer faculties of the university.
Job Description
The Head of the School of Nursing shall be a member of the senior staff of the university and in such capacity provide both academic and administrative leadership to the school and the university, and have the knowledge and experience necessary to advise the Vice-Chancellor and the Senior Management Team on matters concerning the school and university. S/he shall be responsible for all academic, administrative, and research activities of the school, and will chair the school board. Further duties will be specified in the letter of appointment sent to the successful applicant.
Profile
Interested candidates should hold a PhD in Nursing, shall have experience in setting up a similar establishment, shall have significant experience in a senior management position, and have a good research profile. A dynamic and hands-on approach to managing a university faculty will be a pre-requisite for this post.
Interested candidates should, in the first instance, forward a CV to vc@ihsu.ac.ug no later than 25 April 2008.
Subsequent interviews will be held to select the candidate for this post.
Professor Deirdre Carabine
Vice-Chancellor

International Health Sciences University Gets Licence

2008-03-06T09:17:00.000+03:00

It is opportune that at the time when the Global Forum on Human Resources for Health is currently taking place in Kampala our new university received its provisional licence from the Uganda National Council for Higher Education. We are now a fully-recognized tertiary institution.
Delegates from 57 countries are attending the conference in Kampala which seeks to find lasting solutions to the problem of human resources for health, especially in developing countries. While it is recognised that this problem has a global dimension, the greatest worry for the countries of the South is that their trained health workers are being lured to greener pastures leaving many people without even the basics of health care. The Kampala Declaration adopted at the Forum called for an increase in the number of health workers through appropriate training. This is precisely the task of IHSU.
We expect our first intake of students in August and will be actively recruiting staff and students in the coming months.

We are changing our name

2008-01-04T10:56:00.000+03:00

It's good to be back after a long break from this blog. The news I want to communicate is that we are changing our name. Another university in St Kits has the name International University of Health Sciences. In order to avoid confusion, it's better that we use a different name. We have decided on International Health Sciences University. This is not such a radical change and I doubt that many people will notice. We continue to use our corporate branding and logo.
We are now almost ready to submit our application to the Uganda National Council for Higher Education for a Provisional Licence. If we are successful - and we should know by early April, we shall begin our recruitment drive immediately. We shall keep this blog updated.

The New Library at IUHS

2007-07-18T08:35:00.000+03:00

The Learning Process and The IUHS Library

In order to become a Centre of Excellence in health-related training, IUHS plans to change the way training/learning in the health sector has traditionally been done. The Health Sector appears to hold fast to practices and pedagogys that are sometimes outdated and unable to prepare health workers for many areas of health care in today's world. The latest breakthroughs in diagnostic practices (CAT, MRI), the latest treatment techniques, and the use of ICTs in the health sector, means that students and professionals today need to be continually stimulated to keep up-to-date with the latest developments in order to provide optimal healthcare to Uganda's population. IUHS aims to use Problem-Based Learning techniques, in addition to the latest electronic pedagogical methods, to train both young people who aspire to a job in the health sector and those seeking to upgrade their professional skills through Continuing Medical Education. Providing critical and analytical skills to students is paramount in providing an effective workforce to meet Uganda's health needs in the coming decades.

None of this will be possible without a library that will provide all the learning materials necessary for IUHS students to make a success of their studies. A library is the heart of any tertiary institution. Its resources must expand horizons and knowledge. At IUHS we envisage a library that will contribute positively to the learning processes, not only of our students, but also of the general public and interested healthcare workers.

The IUHS library will work hand-in-hand with the Centre for Digital Learning and e-Health. Since our sandwich/distance-learning and remote-learning students will study on a flexible basis (so as to attract as many up-country health workers as possible), our digital resources must be adequate, relevant, and always available. Our students (no matter what discipline) will always have access to our resources, even after graduation, because it is in this way that life-long learning and Continuing Medical Education can be brought to Uganda's healthcare workforce.

What will be New at IUHS Library
Given that we will be bringing education to the people (rather than students necessarily coming to Kampala), we will need a large repository of digital materials that can be used by students (especially remote-learning students) and busy professionals on a 24/7 basis. Many of these learning resources are available freely for many countries of Sub-Saharan Africa – Uganda included – and we will also invest in books, journals, and other resource materials (CDROM, VIDEO) that can supplement our digital resources. Since we plan to open our library facility to registered members of the healthcare professions and to the general public (at no fee), we will need to stock a wide range of materials aimed at different audiences: from experienced clinicians to student nurses, from teaching staff to a mother seeking simple information on breastfeeding.

Setting up a digital library that can function beyond its physical boundaries is a challenge, but one that will bear immediate results in terms of connecting health professionals to an always-available source of information. Such a library would be a “first” in Uganda, and the IUHS library could well be a significant role model for others to emulate.

In short, our graduates, through using IUHS as a knowledge resource, will be in a better position to make use of ICTs for health in a country where vast distances can be cut to a matter of seconds with connectivity to the IUHS knowledge hub.

Thus, our Library and Information Resources Centre will be a state-of-the-art knowledge hub that connects staff, students, health professionals, and the general public. The ultimate goal of setting up a Library and Information Resources Centre is to not only to ensure that our staff and students have access to recent, relevant information that will ultimately have a direct effect on the way healthcare is provided, but also, through our Centre for Digital Learning and e-Health, that all Ugandans have access to health care by well-trained healthcare professionals, either on location or remotely (through our telemedicine project).

Since the major objective of setting up a new health sciences university is to train the necessary professional workforce (both at IUHS or remotely) who can contribute meaningfully to the healthcare needs of Uganda's growing population, the Library and Information Resources Centre will function as the heart of the institution. Our vision is that IUHS will host a fully-functional digital library that can be accessed 24/7, and that it will become a library of choice for health workers not only in Uganda, but also in the East African region.

Impact
the first beneficiaries are the students who receive training at the institution - the skills of those who undertake professional, clinical, or academic courses will be increased so that they provide better healthcare to the people, and are better able to support themselves and their families
given that our students will have life-long access to IUHS digital resources, they will receive continuous healthcare updates and information that will enable them to deliver healthcare in the most appropriate fashion, no matter where they are located
the staff who teach the healthcare workforce will benefit from the availability of the latest information in their subject areas and will be kept up-to-date about latest developments in their field
clinicians and other healthcare professionals who register to use the library will be enabled to increase their clinical skills and build knowledge capacity in the places where they work
the general public who use the library will be assisted to find appropriate information that will benefit them and their families.

e-Health at IUHS

2007-06-29T08:41:00.000+03:00

DIGITAL LEARNING AND E-HEALTH AT International University of Health Sciences
THE HUB of the International University of Health Sciences will be the Centre for Digital Learning and e-Health because IUHS is committed to providing relevant and practical training, not only through innovative and invitational teaching, but also by using the latest electronic modalities.

It is envisaged that our sandwich/distance-learning and remote-learning students will study on a flexible basis so as to attract as many up-country health workers as possible. Thus, the In-Service Certificate programmes will be offered as individual units (one-off training courses) that can also be used by students as building blocks to a diploma and/or eventually a degree. Thus, life-long learning can be brought to Uganda's healthcare workforce in a flexible, pocket-friendly, and manageable fashion through the use of ICTs.

In order to become a Centre of Excellence in health-related training, IUHS plans to change the way training in the health sector has traditionally been done. The latest breakthroughs in diagnostic practices (CAT, MRI), the latest treatment techniques, and the use of ICTs in the health sector, means that students and professionals today need to be continually stimulated to keep up-to-date with the latest development in health care and health education.

One feature of the IUHS that will set it apart from other tertiary institutions will be its use of ICTs to assist learning. It is envisaged that up-country students will attend a full week of intensive learning at IUHS and, on return to their station with additional learning materials (CDROM), will be required to log on to a software programme that will enable them to post short assignments, enter discussions with their peers, and keep in contact with their course tutor.

Here at IUHS, we have tested both a diagnosis consultation and teaching via webcam. Both worked using very simple technology and were extremely successful. The diagnosis was based on digital images captured from a camera and was accurate. The classroom teaching session enabled the teacher to see her remote students and take and answer questions in real time while they also saw her live on screen. These classes will be recorded on DVD for those unable to link electronically. It is also hoped that we can explore the use of PDAs to keep constant contact not only with current students, but also with alumni who may need assistance in their professions. Through all these means, we will ensure that our students receive the best training possible given the current circumstances in Uganda today.

In setting up a Digital Learning and e-Health Centre, we have three aims. Given that we will have the correct equipment in place:

1.we will enable professionals in remote up-country areas to attend courses either in real time or using a blended multi-media rich approach to learning (CDROM base, teleconferencing, email, and other tools in a structured Learning Management System). Thus, continuing medical education can be made much easier and much more cost effective. It also allows professionals to exchange views, share knowledge and experiences, and learn from each other. We will use an Open-Source e-Learning package (as an alternative to Blackboard) to strengthen our support and academic services to remote-learning students.

2.we will connect the rural health facilities run by IMG with International Hospital’s team of professionals in order to bring health knowledge into health-deprived rural locations. The software and hardware needed for simple diagnostic consultations are minimal.

3.our digital library (of 40,000 journals and full-text books) will be available to health workers up-country, our students and staff, and registered members of the general public. In this way we shall facilitate the spreading and sharing of knowledge for the betterment of Uganda's population.

Our centre will have four main functions:
the facilitation of DIGITAL/REMOTE LEARNING
the facilitation of TELEMEDICINE
student and staff TRAINING and SUPPORT
the COMPILATION OF MULTIMEDIA e-RESOURCES (for website and intranet)

We believe that this proposal is a creative response to engage with the emerging challenge of ICTs for health. We support the idea that universities must spearhead an engagement with this emerging technology by prompting local healthcare workers to take a lead in developing and operating telemedicine projects. However, at this stage in our development, we will concentrate on simple, low cost techniques that will hopefully develop as connectivity improves.

At the National Council for Higher Education University Exhibition

2007-05-28T11:16:00.000+03:00

Friday 25 through Sunday 27 May saw the IUHS project at the Uganda National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) University Exhibition. This was the first time the NCHE had organized an exhibition for universities and it was a great success. We had visits and enquiries from many Senior 6 pupils, parents, members of the general public, and academics from other institutions. The Minister for Education and the Minister of State for Higher Education toured the exhibition and were very supportive of our efforts to set up a health sciences university in the country. Our printer Tony pulled out all the stops and delivered our brochures on time, and our stall layout was very enticing. Phiona, Sarah, Patricia, and Bijan manned and womaned the stall all weekend and did an excellent job in selling the project.
Today, the New Vision newspaper carried an excellent article about the project - check www.newvision.co.ug.

A Solution to the Human Resource Crisis in Healthcare?

2007-05-14T12:26:00.000+03:00

one solution: international university of health sciences (iuhs)

However, increasing access to effective health care, especially for the rural poor, depends on having the human resources to run health facilities, especially in rural areas. With the government’s initiative in setting up Universal Primary Education and the growth of secondary education through USE, there has been a huge increase in the number of young people available for further training. While the need for the provision of further training is not disputed, it is generally agreed that there is an urgent need to rethink and refresh the professional courses currently on offer, especially those in the health sector, so as to make them attractive to a younger generation living in a very dynamic and fast-changing world.

The provision of more of the same courses will not be sufficient to meet Uganda's health needs in the coming decades. Training in the health sector (in some of its specializations) has generally stood still for the past number of decades. In today's world, health education must keep up with the times and use the latest technology to ensure that well-trained health workers can adapt and cope with health realities on the ground – especially in rural areas. Thus, there is a genuine need to supplement and fill the gaps in medical and health care education in many and varied specializations. Adding value to already existing courses and specializations (both clinical and academic) is one of the aims of the proposed International University of Health Sciences (IUHS). Through consultation with the stakeholders in the field of health in the next 3-6 months, we will shape our curriculum according to the healthcare needs of the country.

The proposed university will hopefully open its doors to its first cohort of students in 2008, and will initially be housed on the third floor of International Hospital Kampala. This newly-constructed building is excellently suited to housing a first-class tertiary education facility: the site has sufficient space for the university's lecture rooms, meeting rooms, seminar rooms, a resource centre (library and computer facilities), staff and student common rooms, and staff offices. The facilities of the hospital will also be used for clinical courses (laboratories, theatres), ensuring that the expertise of IMG staff as well as that of visiting doctors/surgeons to its public wing, is used to enhance the standards of the educational provision.

mission
The proposed International University of Health Sciences aims to make a difference to health care in Uganda by bridging the gaps in health care education through providing quality health care courses of the highest professional, academic, and clinical standards in an atmosphere of sharing knowledge to promote health development.

goals, objectives, and beneficiaries
The proposed International University of Health Sciences is one response to the crisis in health care in Uganda today. Through training health workers for the country, IUHS could contribute meaningfully to - and be a part of - the efforts to ensure that health care is more accessible to the whole population of the country. The ultimate goal of setting up this university would be to ensure that all Ugandans have access to government health care facilities staffed by well-trained healthcare professionals. Guided by Government policies and objectives for the health sector, IUHS aspires to become a centre of excellence in training healthcare workers in various specializations. Thus, the MDGs, the HSSP II, and the UNMHCP would stand a better chance of being realized.

The major objective of setting up a new health sciences university is to train the necessary professional workforce to contribute meaningfully to the healthcare needs of Uganda's growing population. Through building up a cadre of well-trained health workforce, Ugandans could receive health care (both complex and every-day care) when needed. It is a fact that improving the health of the population means improving the training, skills, and knowledge of the health worker. Thus, unnecessary disease and death could be significantly reduced for the vulnerable sectors of the population. If the IUHS idea becomes a reality, we would expect to see our contribution to health care in Uganda within a period of five - eight years.
Overall the beneficiaries of this tertiary-level institution will include the following:

the local populations of the areas where trained health workers will be placed will benefit through closer access to well-trained health care professionals
the vulnerable, especially the poor who suffer illnesses and death will benefit if health care is delivered in a timely and appropriate fashion
the MDGs will stand a better chance of being realized
the skills of the students who undertake professional, clinical, or academic courses will be increased and they will be better able to support themselves and their families
the government of Uganda will benefit from an increased healthcare workforce
the hospital and its patients will benefit as International Hospital Kampala becomes a centre for medical research and training, attracting both talent and funding
the whole of Uganda will benefit as the number of qualified healthcare professionals entrusted with the future healthcare of the country increases to meet the need
better healthcare means a healthier population who can contribute meaningfully to the development of Uganda in the decades to come.

the proposed curriculum and faculties
The current School of Nursing and the Institute of Health Management already operational in IHK will together form the core pioneer faculties of the university; the university will grow to include a School of Health Policy and Planning, a School of Medicine, a School of Paramedical Studies, an Institute of Tropical Medicine, an Institute of Alternative Medicine, and eventually a School of Postgraduate Studies and Research.

In order to contribute meaningfully to staffing Uganda's health care facilities, the proposed IUHS will initially set up and run:

A. full-time certificate, diploma, and degree programmes for secondary-school leavers in the areas ascertained to be crucial for Uganda's health sector today (see proposed courses listed below for all these sectors)
B. diploma and degree programmes – offered on a sandwich/distance-learning basis - for health care professionals in the field who wish to upgrade their skills
C. short in-service training courses - relevant to local needs - for clinical and professional health care workers to improve performance
D. workshops and one-day training programmes for other health care practitioners, for example, Traditional Birth Attendants (who generally receive their wisdom from their predecessors), so that they can contribute to lowering maternal and infant mortality rates in rural areas
E. workshops and training programmes for non-health workers in the health sector, such as managers and receptionists
F. workshops and training programmes for public and private sector company employees.

The courses and training programmes listed below will be subject to the approval of the relevant professional body in Uganda and the Uganda National Council for Higher Education.

The overall target of the proposed IUHS is to set up and run optimally a health training institution of the highest academic, professional, and clinical standards. Improving the human resources in the health sector will lead to increased human resources at all levels in the health sector; the result will be better services for the people of Uganda.

In order to become a Centre of Excellence in health-related training, IUHS plans to change the way training in the health sector has traditionally been done. The Health Sector appears to hold fast to practices and pedagogys that are sometimes outdated and unable to prepare young people as healthcare workers in many areas of health care. The latest breakthroughs in diagnostic practices (CAT, MRI), the latest treatment techniques, and the use of ICTs in the health sector, means that students today need to be continually stimulated to keep up-to-date with the latest development in the health sector. IUHS aims to use Problem-Based Learning techniques, in addition to the latest pedagogical methods, to train both young people who aspire to a job in the health sector and those currently in pursuit of upgrading their professional skills. Providing critical and analytical skills to students is paramount in providing an effective workforce to meet Uganda's health needs in the coming decade. The main objective is to change the outlook of healthcare professionals so that optimal healthcare is provided to Uganda's increasing population.

A secondary, but nonetheless important target in providing/supplementing skilled, adequate, and appropriate healthcare so that both clinical and primary healthcare needs are adequately catered for, is that the workforce will be better able to contribute to the economic development of the country, and thus contribute also to the MDG of alleviating poverty and improving human well-being. The people who receive services will also see improved health and be better placed to meet their own and their community's economic targets – meaning an increased standard of living.

A further target is to empower people, through best practices, to demand adequate and appropriate healthcare services.

the future
The future is an exciting one for this proposed new university. International Medical Group is committed to making this undertaking a success and its willingness to take the step of starting a university is a matter that has received careful consideration. IMG believes that the proposed IUHS will be an institution that will make a difference to the way health education is provided in Uganda today. We appeal to all stakeholders in the medical/health field to assist us with advice and ideas so that IUHS can make a relevant contribution to providing health care professionals for Uganda's future generations.

making a difference to health care in Uganda

Why We Need a University of Health Sciences

2007-05-11T11:21:00.000+03:00

Why we need a University of Health Sciences
some statistics
At this period in human history, when so many people live “satisfied” and fulfilling lives, the majority of the world's population is living well below acceptable standards. HIV/AIDS has already claimed more lives in SSA than anywhere else in the world, and malaria reports 300 million cases per year (90% in SSA). Of the 1 million people who die from malaria each year, the majority are poor.

Every day, more than 30,000 children around the world die of preventable diseases, and nearly 14,000 are infected with HIV/AIDS. A girl born in a developed country may have a 50% chance of seeing the 22nd century, while a newborn in many “developing” countries has a 1 in 4 chance of dying before the age of 5.

Of the three MDGs directly related to health: reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, 85 countries with more than 60% of the world's people, are not on track to achieve a significant reduction in child mortality – and immunizations in SSA have fallen below the 50% mark. While the targets for HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality cannot be monitored easily with current international data, it remains a fact that every year more than 500,000 women die as a result of pregnancy and/or childbirth – most of them in the “developing” world where the poor cannot afford medical care or medical care is too far away from them.

The average age of Uganda's 28 million population is 15.3 – the global average age is 28. If Uganda's population projections do reach 30 million by the end of 2007 and a staggering 93 million by 2050, then the current health training institutions will not be able to cope with the increased demands of a currently health-starved population. With 1.3 million babies being born in the course of 2007 alone, the current quality and quantity of health care workforce is woefully inadequate.

Indicator 2004
Physicians 2,209
Physicians (per 1 000 population) 0.08

Nurses 16,221
Nurses (per 1 000 population) 0.61

Midwives 3,104
Midwives (per 1 000 population) 0.12

Dentists 363
Dentists (per 1 000 population) 0.01

Pharmacists 688
Pharmacists (per 1 000 population) 0.03

Lab technicians 1,702
Lab technicians (per 1 000 population) 0.06

Source World Health Organization – Report 2006

In developing countries, the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing at a very fast pace which means that the privileged can generally afford health care, while the minority continues to die from preventable and easily-curable diseases. All this has a toll on economic performance with knock-on effects on every aspect of life, quite apart from the fact that more than half the population cannot generate income and are, therefore, dependent on others.

human resources for health
It is because of these appalling health statistics that policy and planning experts are convinced that human resources for health and related functions must be recognized as the most crucial factor for good health-care delivery. The education and training of HRH, with the express aim of addressing the health needs of the population, is now a matter of extreme urgency.

In policy terms, through the Uganda Health Policy (1999), which aims to reduce mortality, morbidity, and fertility by ensuring access to a minimum health care package (UNMHC Package), the Health Sector Strategic Plans I & II (2000 & 2005), government is committed to ensuring that all Ugandans have access to health care, although there are simply not enough healthcare workers to go around. It is estimated that up to 54% of trained humanpower is currently working in the larger hospitals or healthcare facilities in the city and in towns and a significant number of trained medical personnel are lured to greener pastures outside Uganda in search of better salaries. This leaves the rural areas seriously deprived of a well-trained and adequate healthcare workforce. The Ministry of Health's attempts to re-orient services to Primary Health Care have thus far been difficult. Clinicians who practise as medical doctors in rural areas often enrol for a postgraduate qualification after a a few years of practice and the specializations often chosen are not necessarily those needed on a large scale to implement HSSP II.

In the light of the limited resources available to government, health analysts are convinced that the key to providing adequate health care to the population of Uganda is to establish partnerships between the private and the public sectors. According to recent statistics, while Uganda's PNFP institutions train around 40% of the total health workforce in the country and provide services for a significant percentage of the population, they receive little support given the basket funding policy adopted by many donor countries. The Government of Uganda acknowledges the contribution of the private sector, and through the policy objective of making the private sector a major partner in the health sector countrywide, the National Health Programme stands a better chance of achieving its goals.

That is why I believe that Uganda needs another health-training institution. I will be giving you more information about the university itself next week.

The People Behind the Scenes

2007-05-09T10:21:00.000+03:00

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Although there have been positive moves in recent years towards tackling large-scale epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, and despite the significant involvement of NGOs and other donor organizations in the health sector, the healthcare workers crisis is not going away. This is a long-term issue, and it has become increasingly obvious within the health sector that solutions to this problems require a more ‘joined-up’ approach, which will both harness expertise across relevant sectors and work in harmony with government policy makers.

But it is not only the government and NGOs who have been involved in building capacity for healthcare and tackling the crisis in human resources for health in Africa. Some private individuals working independently, have made a significant contribution. Two such people: Dr Ian Clarke and Professor Deirdre Carabine have each been working in Uganda for fifteen years and more, and have pioneered projects in the fields of healthcare and tertiary education. In 2006 they came together to combine their expertise with a plan to establish a university of health sciences. Their combined vision is to develop a centre of excellence in training for the Ugandan healthcare professionals of tomorrow.

Dr Clarke first came to Uganda with his family in 1988 under the auspices of the ‘Church Mission Society’, an Anglican mission. This was in the immediate aftermath of the bush war in the ‘Luweero Triangle’(1981–1986). The area was known at that time as ‘the killing fields of Africa’ and many of the dead had been left unburied, leaving skulls and bones in heaps by the sides of the road. What began as a makeshift clinic under a tree grew over a period of five years into a hospital. By the time he left Luweero and CMS, Dr Clarke had established a fully-fledged Hospital: Kiwoko Hospital, which has continued to grow and now has over 200 beds, a nursing school, a laboratory technician’s training school, a large community health programme, and a community-based training centre for doctors and medical students.

Dr Clarke then moved to Kampala as a private individual where he set up International Medical Centre, a small private clinic. While his target group in Luweero had been the rural poor, in Kampala he focused mainly on the developing urban middle-income group. His rationale was that Uganda had suffered from a breakdown of its health services because of many years of dictatorship and civil war. As a result there was little on offer in terms of sophisticated medical facilities. When he had come to Uganda a decade earlier, few people had a sufficient income, but during the late eighties and early nineties he witnessed the development of an urban middle-income group. If such people were able to pay for their healthcare, Dr Clarke could then use the income to improve services available across the board. Just three years later he was able to establish a small thirty-bed hospital, following which he set up a health management organization called IAA Healthcare. The income from IAA enabled him to open a purpose-built, one hundred-bed hospital in 2005.

The hospital now not only operates on the basis of providing healthcare for patients of IAA and fee-paying patients, it also operates a charity (public) wing: Hope Ward (www.hopeward.org) which is funded through partnerships with local companies and other sponsors. With a mission to provide complex medical care for those who could not otherwise pay, this ward has focused on the treatment of such conditions as acid burns, cancer, victims of road traffic accidents, care for sufferers of HIV/AIDs, complex gynecological surgery (vesico-vaginal fistula repair), and victims of the war in northern Uganda who require reconstructive surgeries.

Dr Clarke is now CEO of International Medical Group (IMG) which as an umbrella organization for the hospital, IAA Healthcare, a nursing school, and a health management institute which mainly teaches short courses in areas related to healthcare. IMG also has a building division, specializing in the building and equipping of hospitals and clinics. The group now employs over 500 people in the hospital and its eight satellites clinics, including a clinic in Juba, South Sudan. IMG uses its structure and capacity to carry out community projects in the fields of Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) for HIV, anti-retroviral treatment and community health. Through the work of Kiwoko Hospital and IMG, Dr Clarke has been at the forefront of raising standards of healthcare within Uganda for almost 20 years.

Professor Deirdre Carabine is no stranger to the establishment of educational institutions and has been a pioneer in university building for the past thirteen years. She first came to Uganda in March 1993 when she was recruited to assist in the establishment of Uganda Martyrs University. Along with her pioneer colleagues, Prof. Carabine took responsibility for the rehabilitation of what was a seriously run-down former teacher training college in Nkozi on the Ugandan equator. This hard work finally paid off when 80 new students arrived to attend lectures in October 1993. However, it wasn't all sunny days and blue skies: having lost all her worldly possessions and lecture notes in a Kenyan container heist, she had to start completely from scratch - but the University grew from her paper, pen, and infectious enthusiasm for learning. These efforts finally paid dividends as the first group of students began to pass through the University with a solid commitment to self-improvement and a veracious desire to learn.

As a committed educationalist, Prof. Carabine worked hand-in-hand with the then Vice-Chancellor Professor Michel Lejeune to ensure that their students had the same rigorous training as students anywhere else in the world. The benefits of insisting on quality and professionalism in the field of education have paid off. From humble beginnings, the university on the equator has now gained a solid national and international reputation. By the time Prof. Carabine left Nkozi in 2006, the University boasted seven faculties and a growing research profile. Prof. Carabine was instrumental in starting an Institute that offers various diploma, BA, MA, and PhD programmes attracting students not only from East Africa, but also from the US, the UK, and Europe. It is her hope that International University of Health Sciences will attain the same reputation in record time.

Dr Clarke and Prof Carabine may have worked in different sectors, but they have shared a passion for ensuring the delivery of quality essential services to Ugandans. In 2006 Prof. Carabine and Dr. Clarke realized that in partnership, they could utilise their combined experience, along with the facilities and medical expertise of IMG staff, to make a difference to the problems facing healthcare education within Uganda. This partnership bore fruit when in February this year IMG was awarded a ‘letter of interim authority’ by the Uganda National Council for Higher Education. This letter gave IMG the permission to plan for and set up a fully-fledged university. Thus, the proposed International University of Health Sciences (IUHS) was conceived.

The proposed university will hopefully open its doors to its first cohort of students in January 2008 and will initially operate from International Hospital Kampala. This newly-constructed building is excellently suited to housing a first-class tertiary education facility: the site has sufficient space for the university's lecture rooms, meeting rooms, seminar rooms, a resource center (library and computer facilities), staff and student common rooms, and staff offices. The facilities of the hospital will also be used for clinical courses (laboratories, theatres), ensuring that the expertise of IMG staff as well as that of visiting doctors/surgeons to its public wing, is used to enhance the standards of the educational provision. The current School of Nursing and the Institute of Health Management operated by IHK will together form the core pioneer faculties of the university and the university will grow to include a School of Health Policy and Planning, a School of Medicine, a School of Paramedical Studies, an Institute of Tropical Medicine, an Institute of Alternative Medicine, and a School of Postgraduate Studies and Research.

The future is an exciting one for this new university and its establishment will benefit many. The Ugandan education sector will benefit, as the healthcare professionals of tomorrow will have the opportunity to study within a new centre of excellence. The hospital and its patients will also benefit as International Hospital Kampala becomes a centre for medical research and training, attracting both talent and funding. Not only this, the Ugandan government will benefit as it becomes better placed to reach the UN Millennium Goals related to health through this increase in national medical expertise. Finally, the whole of Uganda will benefit as the number of qualified healthcare professionals entrusted with the future healthcare of the country increases to meet the need.

IUHS: Making a difference to health care in Uganda

The University Project is Launched!

2007-05-08T12:51:00.000+03:00

International Medical Group (check our website on www.img.co.ug), which operates International Hospital Kampala and International Air Ambulance, has been granted a “Letter of Interim Authority” by the Uganda National Council for Higher Education for the proposed International University of Health Sciences. The “Letter of Interim Authority” allows the proposed university to put in place all the structures necessary for a quality university to run optimally prior to applying for a Provisional Licence from the NCHE.

The guiding principle of the institution: “Making a difference to health care in Uganda”, reflects the commitment to professionalism, quality, and service already embedded in the operating practices of International Hospital Kampala and International Air Ambulance.

Given the acute shortage of healthcare workers in the country – and given the population expansion projected for the next 10 years – this private initiative, which was inspired by the Ministry of Health's recent policy on Human Resources for Health, will boost the number of well-trained healthcare professionals so that Uganda will be better placed to meet the Millennium Development Goals related to health, the Health Sector Strategic Plan II, and the Uganda Minimum Health Care Package requirements.

IMG has recruited Professor Dr Deirdre Carabine (formerly Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Director of the School of Postgraduate Studies at Uganda Martyrs University) to set up the International University of Health Sciences. Her experience, and the long experience of Dr Ian Clarke and his colleagues at International Hospital Kampala, will ensure that IUHS will grow to provide the human resources capable of making a real difference to the way health care is provided in Uganda today.

The university project was officially launched by Honourable Dr Stephen Mallinga, Minister of Health and Ms Aine Hearns, Head of Mission, Embassy of Ireland Kampala on Friday 4 May at International Hospital Kampala in the presence of many VIPs and medical personnel from around the country.

Next up: look for a profile of Ian and Dee.

First Things First

2006-11-03T11:39:00.000+03:00

Watch this space for an exciting new development in university education in Uganda. The current situation in the country, and indeed in many countries south of the Sahara, is dreadful. Since doctors are paid a pittance for long hours of work under mostly poor conditions, many migrate to greener pastures with higher salaries. Uganda has 1 doctor to 120,000 people. And even then, distribution of (and access to) medical services and personnel is inadequate. The backgound to this situation is complex but one thing is sure: if medical personnel are trained in the context of the Ugandan situation, then we might be able to persuade more to stay in the country. To this end, we are working towards the creation of a new medical training facility in the country, a facility that will be able to prepare health services personnel to work in Uganda itself. I will update you next week.