CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION IN TANZANIA

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CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION IN TANZANIA

• By
• Senga K Pemba, PhD
• Director, TTCIH, Ifakara
• 16/05/2008

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INTRODUCTION

• In Tanzania CONTINUING EDUCATION started in 1981
  when a pilot CME Project was established in
  Arusha town under the support of the African
  Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF).
• CME has ever since expanded. To date CME has been
  decentralised into eight Zonal Training Centres.
  Moreover CME has now been included in the
  National Health Policy

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THE DEFINITION OF CME

• CME is defined as all learning opportunities that
  can be taken up after initial education
• CME is determined by a number of factors
  motivation to learn, intention to learn and
  learning behaviour
• CME should be viewed as an agent for change
• Currently CME has been transformed to Continuing
  Professional Development (CPD)

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WHY CME IN TANZANIA?

• Knowledge in the field of medicine is rapidly
  changing as new diseases appear and disease
  management strategies developed
• The general public has of recent been more deeply
  and widely concerned over professional
  inadequacies
• It is important for the health profession to
  establish and strengthen ways of updating and
  maintaining professional competencies to meet the
  publics expectations

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FACTS ABOUT HUMAN RESOURCES

• The Human Resource is the most important of all
  the assets of an organisation
• Human beings are not recurrent costs but valuable
  assets
• Like other assets, human resources are prone to
  depreciation
• Their value can and should be increased through a
  process of continuous, systematic and planned
  education and training

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ORGANISATION OF CME IN TANZANIA

• To ensure a wide coverage of the learners in a
  vast country like Tanzania, CME has been
  decentralised into eight zones Northern Zone,
  Central Zone, Eastern Zone, Southern Zone,
  Southern Highland Zone, Southern Western Zone,
  Lake Zone and Western Zone
• Each Zonal Training Centre has adequate teaching
  facilities, hostels and a library.
• MUHAS, KCMC and TTCIH have their own CME Units

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SOME SPECIFIC PRIORITIES FOR CME

• Leadership and management training
• Research Methodology
• Teaching Methodology
• Health Sector Reform
• Prevention and Control of Malaria, HIV/AIDS,
  Tuberculosis and Nutritional deficiencies
• Medical ethics
• IMCI, Reproductive health
• Quality Assurance

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CURRENTLY EXISTING CME APPROACHES

• Refresher courses conducted by training
  institutions
• Distance Education Modules
• Hospital-based clinical meetings
• Scientific conferences and seminars
• Scientific journals and newsletters
• In service training. This is the mostly preferred
  method
• On the job training/supervision
• Workshops organised by PHC Programmes/NGOs

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BENEFITS OF CONT. EDUCATION

• Increased self esteem and confidence
• Improved performance
• Analytical thinking brings opportunities for job
  enrichment
• Aids career development
• Creative thinking and personal mastery
• Reflective practice is motivating and relieves
  stress
• Financial reward

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COSTS FOR NOT DOING CME/CPD

• Loss of professional standing and recognition
• Loss of self esteem and confidence
• Loss of support from within the profession
• Inability to compete with fellow professionals
• Lack of job satisfaction
• No career path
• Inability to benefit from transferable skills
• Inability to demonstrate skill

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MAIN CONSTRAINTS FOR IMPLEMENTING CME/CPD IN
TANZANIA

• Financial resources. Funds are not adequate
• Resource persons are not there to act as
  mentors/facilitators
• Shortage of learning materials
• Lack of overall strategy for CME
• Lack of training facilities especially in remote
  places
• Lack of communication facilities for distance
  learners
• Lack of time
• Heavy commitment to practice
• Preference to more conventional methods
• Need to take care or preserve family life.
•