Report on Uganda Workshop held in Kampala Nov. 21-25th 2011

1/7/2012

 

Report on Uganda Workshop held in Kampala Nov. 21-25^th 2011

This was an extremely successful workshop. A lot of effort was put into the development and implementation of the workshop by all involved and the evaluation comments demonstrated that the effort was well worth it. We used a variety of teaching methods and central to many of the activities was the CD developed by Dr. Cowan. Each participant received a copy. Stephen Bule was tireless in his assistance and helpfulness. Our hosts at the hospital could not do enough for us and the radiographers who helped out made everything run that much smoother. Dr. Cowan did the lion’s share of the teaching and inspired many of the participants to study this area more in the future. Jenny Motto provided the essential African/ISRRT link and was well known to many of the participants, affectionately known as Mamma Motto!  Dr. Michael Kawooya and 2 other radiologists provided the local input with lectures on Ugandan diseases. We also had an Australian first year radiography student with us, Katrina Ryan who will never look at the comfortable health environment of her homeland quite the same again. Her trepidation on first arrival turned into a love of Uganda and the wonderful friends made during the visit. We were very gratified to be hosted by the Ugandan Association to a visit to the source of the Nile and the evening entertainment was funded by Dr. Cowan and his wife Stephanie who accompanied us. It was a delightful evening and everyone was very appreciative of Dr. Cowan’s generosity.

Above: Dr Cowan and representatives from Uganda and Rwanda

Above: Dr Michael Kawooya, visiting Radiologist

We challenged the participants to write about the workshop for publication and also to write later about how they would implement the skills and knowledge taught during the workshop. Mubuuke Aloysius Gonzaga has submitted and excellent report and I am including this below.

There were many positive comments and I have listed some below

·       Generosity of the instructors with material and knowledge and the good interpersonal relationships exhibited during the workshop

·       The pretests and the fact that the session involved quizzes thus improving my thinking and analytical skills

·       The overall organization and layout of the workshop with a mix of teaching, work stations and quizzes

·       The detailed body of knowledge was very helpful and the style of the presentations was engaging and I felt actively involved. Every presenter was good.

·       The radiologist Dr Ian accommodated everyone hence we were all on the same page. Cynthia and Jenny always came in whenever needed, excellent facilitation!

·       The mode of presentation done by facilitators which involves the participants most of the time rather than normal lecturing

·       I wish Dr. Cowan would return to Uganda for more of his presentation

 

Above: Australian and Ugandan students

 

ISRRT SUCCESSFULLY CONDUCTS X-RAY FILM INTERPRETATION TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR RADIOGRAPHERS IN UGANDA

Author: Mubuuke Aloysius Gonzaga, Makerere University, School of Medicine, Radiology department

E-mail: gmubuuke@gmail.com

Tel: +256772616788

Background: Uganda`s Health Care System has been decentralized to lower level health facilities in order to bring services nearer to people. Plain X-ray services are now available in most of these lower level health facilities throughout the country. This is in addition to numerous private imaging facilities that provide X-ray services. Many of these facilities are run by Radiographers and Radiological Technologists who are increasingly being called upon by Clinicians to offer expert opinions on X-ray films for effective patient management. This is because Uganda has very few Radiologists who are mainly concentrated in major urban centres and referral hospitals. Unfortunately, even some regional referral hospitals, and majority of district hospitals in Uganda, lack Radiologists with imaging services being manned by Radiographers and Radiological Technologists. Therefore, Radiographers and Radiological Technologists will have to take on the role of reporting X-ray films in Uganda to address the gap created by shortage of Radiologists. Even in areas where there are Radiologists, Radiographers have always been consulted by Radiologists for their opinion on X-ray films. Skills in interpretation of X-ray films are thus needed for Radiographers and Radiological Technologists to effectively take on this role. The International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technologists (ISRRT) training workshop was organized in Uganda to address this gap by introducing the principles of image Interpretation. Uganda became one of the pioneer countries in Africa to benefit from such training workshop.

The training workshop: The workshop organized by ISRRT in x-ray film interpretation in Uganda run from 21^st to 25^th November 2011 at Butabika Hospital, Kampala, Uganda. The training workshop targeted graduate radiographers holding a degree and focused mainly on those radiographers working in up-country and rural areas that are more likely to have no Radiologists at all. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Ian Cowan, a New Zealand  Radiologist, Ms. Cynthia Cowling and Ms. Jenny Motto from ISRRT. These were assisted by some local facilitators from Uganda. The workshop was organized in conjunction with Uganda Radiographers Association (URA).

Justification of the workshop: Uganda has a population of over 30 million people, but with just over 30 Radiologists. The few Radiologists thus, cannot cover the whole country leaving radiographers especially in rural areas to run x-ray services including reporting. Many of the radiographers were not formally trained in x-ray film interpretation and yet they were always consulted by Clinicians to give opinion on x-rays. There was therefore need to equip radiographers with the basic skills to interpret x-ray films and form an opinion that might assist the Clinicians managing the patients.

Workshop objective: The major objective of the workshop was to equip graduate radiographers with the necessary skills to interpret x-ray films and  form an opinion that is likely to assist in the management of the patients.

Methods of delivery during the workshop: The facilitators triangulated the delivery methods in order to convey their content. Most of these methods invoked the principles of adult learning like active participation, collaborative learning, critical thinking and building on prior knowledge. The methods included interactive lectures guided by the facilitators, question and answer sessions, small group discussions and real practical exercises of reading and reporting on x-ray films of various body parts. The combination of these methods built a platform on which learning was put in context. The learners were also given opportunity to share experiences from their own work settings.

Outcomes and benefits from the workshop: The training workshop yielded several outcomes and benefits which include, but not limited to the following:

·        Interpretation of plain x-ray films: The major competency that participants acquired was the skill to interpret plain x-ray films of various body parts. This is expected to be of benefit most especially to rural areas where there are no Radiologists at all.

·        Acquisition of learning resources: The participants received CDs and text books containing a wealth of information on x-ray film reporting. It is expected that participants will continue to utilize the learning resources they had received and also share it with others in their work places.

·        Foundation for further training: The training workshop provided a firm foundation for further training in x-ray film interpretation as participants gained a lot of interest. Perhaps, some will go ahead to pursue Masters Degrees in this area.

·        Continued Professional Development (CPD): As a result of this workshop, participants can now access an on-line resource in film interpretation from Phillips. This was welcomed as there will be continued improvement of skills.

·        Networking: Participants networked with facilitators from ISRRT which relationship may prove to be very important for future collaborations.

Conclusion: All in all, it was a very successful workshop whose long term impact will greatly be appreciated. The participants were encouraged to share the knowledge with others in their work places. It would be interesting to follow up the participants to evaluate the long term impact of this training. The training workshop concluded with a dinner in Kampala where the facilitators and participants had a chance to socialize and make some enduring friendships.  

*****

I would like to thank Mr Mubuuke for his excellent report, to all involved in the logistics and running of the workshop and most particularly Stephen Bule, Dr.Cowan and Jenny Motto.

 This workshop was considered a pilot with the objective of running it again. We will be running a survey in 2 months to determine the effectiveness of the workshop in the workplace. Much was learnt, but we now have a body of knowledge, materials and plenty of feedback to offer this workshop again in the future.

Cynthia Cowling

 Director of Education