During this project, I have the opportunity to work with the Pediatrics department at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) and the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS). In partnership with local health care professionals and students, I will spend time working on the pediatric inpatient wards to care for critically ill children requiring hospitalization. As part of this project, local partners and I will work to identify opportunities for improvement in patient care and educational efforts. This will be done by updating treatment guidelines and curriculum in subject areas identified by local partners. We will also work to improve the feedback process during urgent/emergent situations in patient care. This will be done through educational and hands-on simulation sessions for interns, clinical officers and students.
With this project, the populations served include critically ill children requiring hospitalization on the pediatric wards and also the local health care professionals that will be welcoming us as visitors to their hospital. Through partnership and collaboration with local staff, we will be able to identify the most pressing needs of the department related to patient care and medical education and assist with those needs through updates to educational curriculum and treatment guidelines.
We hope that this project will improve delivery of high-quality healthcare to critically ill children requiring hospitalization on the pediatric wards at MNH. I believe spending time on the wards with local partners will assist with targeting educational efforts to the most relevant topics and, ultimately, creating sustainable systems of health care delivery, leading to lasting positive change.
During my time at MNH, I had the opportunity to work alongside pediatric specialists, pediatric residents and medical students who were caring for patients requiring admission to the wards. Patients ranged from infants to teenagers and were affected by a wide range of pathologies requiring specialized care.
