Kenneth Kagame
EACO President
Topic
Residency training; a case for EACO
What is EACO ?
EACO is a virtual college which started in 2005 as an
association of 5 residency training programmes in East
Africa, namely; Uganda
-Makerere
-Mbarara
Tanzania -Muhimbili, Dar
-KCMC, Moshi
Kenya
-Nairobi
Currently draws its membership from eight countries
including: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi,
Malawi, Ethiopia and Zambia
Its Mission
‘to increase the numbers of
ophthalmologists and improve the
quality of eye care in EA’ through;
Main objectives
-Training… residents, CPDs, subspecialisation
-Research, for evidence based policy and practice
-Infrastructure devt; physical and equipment
-Set standards for professional ophthalmic practice
-Contribute to health policy development
Why was it formed ?
Professors. Klauss, Abiose, Ogada did an evaluation of
Ophthalmology Residency programs in East Africa and
found that;
1. Training of Ophthalmologists unsatisfactory in quantity and
quality
2. Skeleton or less than skeleton faculty, lecturers
3. lecturers needed further training, subspecialisation
4. Poorly equipped, (teaching aids, clinic and theatre )
5. Inadequate library, print and electronic
WHO/PBL/98.71
Recommendations
The report recommended:
A harmonised curriculum for Eastern Africa
Improve academic capacity of teaching staff,
Subspecialisation
Emphasis on quantity and quality of research
Enhanced partnerships of NGOs & others with
National govts to support training;
Develop links with other training institutions in more
resourced regions around the globe
EACO is part of the response
What we have achieved
 Organizational development – EACO has
institutionalized effectively
 Subspecialisation and skills enhancement for
several faculty members
 Scholarships for residents
 We are supporting several big and quality eye
health research projects in EA
 Established links with universities and College
in the North, especially UK- RCOphth, Bristol,
Birmingham, Royal Free, St Thomas. And Munichen
Quality of training Residents
 We have a curriculum of EACO which all residency
programs have used as a template for their local
curriculum
 Harmonised examination format
 Exchange of lecturers, and examiners
 Material support for residents (e.g. books, equip)
 Exchange of residents, rotations to sister Univ
 A Fellowship examination;
-once a year , still voluntary
Increasing number of Residents
 Full Residency sponsorship x 3
 Partial support to Residents x 30
 Residents graduating annually from the 5 Universities
increased from less than 10 to 30 by 2012
 We believe we have contributed significantly by
-advocacy – raised profile of ophthalmology
-enhanced attractive programs
-scholarships
Training trainers, lecturers
 Link program with RCOphth , UK:
-Curriculum development
-Trained examiners for the local Fellowship
-CPD standardisation and accreditation
-Attended each others Fellowship exams as observer
 Link program to UK University Hospitals;
-short term visits
 Link to India….Aravind and LV Prasad
-for skills enhancement for the faculty
We are exploring possibilities of transforming this
trilateral arrangement into a full fellowship course
Infrastructure Development
 Procured equipment for
each of the 5 Depts
 Reference books for
individuals and libraries
 Construction
-just completed a Dept
block for Mbarara
-plans ready for
Makerere, Nairobi and
Muhimbili
Research
 Trained researchers (Residents and Academic staff) at
several workshops in collaboration with AVRI
 Currently sponsoring 6 ongoing research projects,
Including one on ‘Why are young doctors not choosing
Ophthalmology for PG studies’
We are looking for international seasoned researchers for
collaboration
 To mentor our young researchers
 To bring in resources
Our medium to long term wish/objective is
 For our citizens to have access to QUALITY EYE CARE
 All our ophthalmology residents to qualify with our
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FELLOWSHIP
Fellowship to obtain international accreditation
FEACO to be the exit exam to practice in our Region
Each of our Depts to establish itself as a Centre of
Excellence in its chosen subspecialty field, eg Retina, etc for
service and training
Enhanced collaboration between Govts, and other
developmental partners in resource mobilisatiion
for training
Functional South to South, and South to North Links
 More sharing resources between our Universities
Acknowledgement to those
who have seen us thru infancy
-Sight Savers
-Light For the World
-OEU
-CBM
-MEACO/PBU,
-European Union
-FHF,
-RCOphth, UK
-AVRI,
-LVPEI
- Aravind,
-and others.
Thank you for listening!