Current Projects

Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda
20 December 2011
On 13 December, Steven Daglish returned from Uganda after teaching Biomedical Engineering at Kyambogo University for 8 weeks. We're delighted to have him back and have very much enjoyed hearing all about his time out there. You can read his final two reports below.

Now he is back, the Amalthea Trust will be holding a conference in the New Year and the team will be occupied with organising this over the next few months as well as considering what our new projects might be.

We thank you for your interest in the Kyambogo University Project and hope you will continue to provide your support when Steven goes back to Uganda to begin a new 8 week course at the University in June.

Please keep checking the website for news on the conference, upcoming projects, and any developments on Kyambogo University. Minutes from Amalthea Trust team meetings can be found on our Latest News page.

Reports: Week 6, Weeks 7 and 8

Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda
3 November 2011
Currently, there is a severe shortage of medical engineers in Uganda and the Amalthea Trust, Kyambogo University in Kampala, and the Ugandan Department of Health are all collaborating in a unique attempt to address this issue through education and training.

The course, which is being offered in conjunction with the University’s Electrical Engineering department, is, to our knowledge, the only one of its kind. It was born as a result of a collaboration between the Amalthea Trust and John Okounzi, an electrical engineer who instigated an engineering course at the University because he felt it was important to cultivate a new generation of biomedical engineers within Uganda. As John had limited knowledge in the field of Medical engineering, he realised he would need to bring in experts to lecture, teach and train others, not only to enter the profession, but in order to teach future students. This is where the Amalthea Trust was able to help and a three phase plan was put into action.

The first phase was to refurbish two classrooms and the Amalthea Trust provided funding which supplied them with air conditioning and adapted them for teaching and carrying out equipment maintenance. Phase two was to stock these classrooms with the necessary training and test equipment which the Trust also arranged and paid for. The third and final phase is to provide the course with ongoing financial support, teaching and to develop the curriculum. Having successfully completed the first couple of stages, we are now happily teaching approximately twenty students in Uganda and mean to continue this effort for the years to come.

The course uses elements of the Engineering World Health Biomedical Technicians Training Programme developed by the Developing World Healthcare Technology Laboratory and is a component of the University’s current bachelors degree in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. It combines tuition in the theory behind the subject with practical sessions which are run by Kyambogo University lecturers and voluntary Amalthea Trust medical engineers respectively. Two rooms at the University have been renovated to serve as a laboratory and workshop, however, Mulago Hospital is also lending its support to the course by allowing various practical lessons to take place on its premises; the students are therefore given the opportunity to work in a real healthcare facility. As none of the lecturers are trained or practising biomedical engineers, we are also providing training for them.

The aims of the course are:
   ·      To give students a good understanding of human physiology and anatomy
   ·      To teach students the basic functions and operations of medical equipment
   ·      To provide guidance and a good insight into healthcare technology management
   ·      To enable students to identify electrical safety and standards associated with medical devices
   ·      To develop students’ understanding of specific medical equipment, its uses and applications
   ·      To teach repair, maintenance and calibration techniques
   ·      To provide an understanding of technical specification and use of a service manual
 
Steven Daglish is the project co-ordinator on behalf of the Amalthea Trust and is staying in Uganda for an initial eight week period. He is continuously joined by visiting voluntary NHS engineers from the UK for a minimum of two weeks each and they give lectures in subjects based on their area of expertise. These subjects relate to medical equipment and systems and healthcare equipment management issues. 

At the end of their stay, the engineers will compose a report regarding the outcome of the course, levels of attendance and any suggestions they have for improving the workshops, which the Trust will use to make sure the students are constantly receiving the best training on offer. Steven’s reports will be added to the Amalthea Trust website regularly to keep you up to date with everything that’s happening during this project; we hope that you feel as excited when reading them as we did!
 
Finally, thanks must be given to Dr Keita ‘Ike’ Ikedo, engineer and co-director of the American charity, Global Partnership in Anaesthesia and Surgery. He has been heavily involved with trying to maintain medical equipment in Mulago hospital and has been invaluable in helping us get our project off the ground.

The Amalthea Trust would also like to thank Rigel for the kind donation of five 266 Plus electrical safety testers.
 
Remember to keep checking the website for further developments and we thank you for your interest and support.

Reports: Week 1  Weeks 2 and 3    Week 4   Week 5