What's New at GWUMC

WASHINGTON (October 29, 2008) —The Department of Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) has received a $1.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to study medical education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The study, titled “The Sub-Saharan African Medical Schools Study (SAMSS): Exploring the Options for Capacity Development,” will assess the challenges and opportunities facing African medical education. The project will be led by Fitzhugh Mullan, MD, Murdock Head Professor of Medicine and Health Policy, and Seble Frehywot, MD, MHSA, assistant research professor in the Departments of Health Policy and Global Health.

The GW-based team will work in consultation with an Advisory Committee co-chaired by Dr. Mullan and Dr. Francis Omaswa, executive director of the African Centre for Global Health and Social Transformation (CHEST), former director general for Health Services in the Ministry of Health in Uganda and former executive director of the World Health Organization Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA).The Advisory Committee comprises African medical educators, public officials, and experts in medical education in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to participate in the growing efforts to address the human resource gap and its effects on the health problems of Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Dr. Mullan. “The study is designed to increase understanding of the content and context of medical education in the region.”

The scarcity of information about medical education in Sub-Saharan Africa makes it difficult for educators, policy makers, and international donors to assess trends, priority needs, and opportunities – and to develop strategic policies for capacity development. The team will undertake ten case studies of representative medical schools. Additionally, they will conduct a survey of all medical schools in the region in order to improve the knowledge base about medical education in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Although there are 102 medical schools in the 48 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa graduating an estimated 5,100 physicians a year, these countries as a whole have a very low physician-to-population ratio. Efforts to stabilize and improve health care in Sub-Saharan Africa must consider medical education in the region and methods to build capacity and improve graduate retention.

Dr. Frehywot commented, “We are most appreciative of the Gates Foundation support that will allow us to develop systematic information about medical schools in Sub-Saharan Africa. We hope to provide a better evidence-based analysis regarding medical education for national and international policy makers, as well as for organizations considering health system strengthening support in Sub-Saharan Africa.”