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If They Build It They Will Come: A Bidirectional Approach to Continuing
Medical Education in Haiti
Davis, BW, MS, MPH, OMSIV; Curry, C, MD, PhD; Nadas, M, MD, MPH.
Physicians for Haiti; Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
Introduction: Continuing Medical Education (CME) for Haitian physicians was
limited before and subsequently weakened by the 2010 earthquake. Physicians
for Haiti (P4H) is a Boston-based non-profit organization that works in
conjunction with Haitian physicians to advance medical education in Haiti. P4H’s
provides Haitian-directed creation and provision of situation-relevant CME
material with a goal of increased participation by Haitian healthcare providers in
educational activities. This is an assessment of P4H’s activities over a two-year
period.
Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of P4H’s activities and interventions
from January 2011 through December 2012. A formal needs assessment was
performed in 2011 including over sixty Haitian physicians. Program
implementation was initiated in parallel to the needs assessment with preliminary
data from our Haitian partner organizations guiding the development of
educational modules, online educational case discussions, in-person
conferences and workshops. P4H also created a Visiting Professor Program and
travel grants to allow for Haitian physicians to participate in international
conferences with the objective of beginning a means for the bilateral exchange of
ideas. All projects were monitored including the number of educational modules
created, the participation in online discussions, and attendance at in-person
conferences. We also evaluated recipient response and feedback in terms of
satisfaction and short term knowledge acquisition.
Results: During the two-year analysis period P4H produced nine educational
modules on subjects such as diabetes mellitus and neonatal nutrition. The
number of members in our online case discussion increased by 78% percent,
from 20 to 91 members and these participants engaged in 63 discussions. There
have been 19 conferences with approximately 30 attendees at each, and two
country-wide CME conferences with 80 participants in 2011 and 145 participants
in 2012, representing a 50% growth in participation. Five Visiting Professors
teaching courses in subjects ranging from the social determinants of health to
neurology were provided to P4H partners. Travel grants for four residents and
three attending physicians were provided for attendance at international health
conferences.
Conclusion: The attendance and participation in the CMEs provided by P4H has
increased over the two-year analysis period, suggesting that there is the desire
for formal medical education beyond the undergraduate and post-graduate level