FAQ

Medicine

Anesthesia
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Harvard Medical School and the University of Virginia School of Medicine

Emergency Medicine
Rhode Island Hospital at Brown University

Internal medicine
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Duke University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Rhode Island Hospital at Brown University,  University of Texas at Galveston and Yale School of Medicine

Obstetrics and Gynecology
Duke University School of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, Harvard Medical School and Yale School of Medicine

Pathology
Harvard School of Medicine

Pediatrics
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Duke University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Rhode Island Hospital at Brown University and Yale School of Medicine

Surgery
Columbia University, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Harvard Medical School and the University of Virginia School of Medicine

ENT
Harvard Medical School and the University of Virginia School of Medicine

Radiology
Harvard Medical School and the University of Virginia School of Medicine

Oncology
Harvard Medical School

Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School

Nursing & Midwifery

Focus areas:

• Adult medical/surgical
• Community/primary care (health centers)
• Infection control
• Mental health
• Midwifery
• Pediatrics

Nursing & Midwifery US schools
Duke University, Howard University, New York University, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Maryland and University of Texas at Houston

Oral Health

Harvard University

Health Management

Yale University

The most important goal of this program is the development of a highly skilled and educated cadre of Rwandan faculty in medicine, nursing and midwifery, health management and dentistry. Each US faculty member mentors a more junior Rwandan clinician to take on the role of clinical instructor.

US nursing and midwifery faculty conduct faculty development courses to prepare Rwandan nurse/midwife educators to teach specialty courses. This ensures that sufficient faculty is in place to continue these programs once the US faculty leave.

A detailed plan for overall management of the program has been developed by the Ministry of Health.

Each US school appoints an in-country coordinator to handle any personal or employment related issues that can be resolved in-country. He/she also serve as the liaison to the home school.

Professional, clinical, or educational issues are brought to the appropriate Hospital Liaison within a teaching hospital, or to the Faculty Liaison with the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing Sciences, Dentistry or Health Management.

Most US faculty are posted at teaching hospitals where they teach students and residents. In year one, the majority of faculty were assigned to one of the four referral hospitals in Rwanda – King Faisal Hospital, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Kigali (CHUK), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Butare (CHUB), and Kanombe Military Hospital. In subsequent years, medical faculty will be deployed to Provincial Hospitals.

Some nursing and midwifery faculty are placed at the referral hospitals, but they are also deployed at the five District Hospitals attached to the schools of nursing and midwifery. These faculty members also serve as a resource for nurses in the surrounding health centers. Midwifery faculty are assigned to Muhima District Hospital in Kigali, a very busy center for maternal and newborn health care.

Health Management faculty spend most of their time at the School of Public Health and referral hospitals.

Each US educator is paired with a Rwandan colleague in the same specialty area. The Rwandan clinician/educator helps the US partner adjust to the Rwandan clinical setting, and the US clinician/educator provides mentorship in clinical skills and decision-making. Together they seek to strengthen all aspects of health professionals’ education and training.

Approximately 80% of US faculty members’ time is spent in the clinical setting providing bedside teaching. The rest of their time is spent on administrative areas aimed at improving the residency programs or clinical instruction of nurses and midwives, developing curricula, and collaborating with colleagues on issues related to their specific specialty area. In some cases, a portion of US faculty members’ time is spent on research. See Positions Available for further detail.

Several of the nursing and midwifery faculty positions are focused on strengthening education at the schools of nursing and midwifery and the Kigali Health Institute, including developing e-learning materials, expanding and improving skills labs, developing curricula for nursing specialty programs, and faculty development.