This semester Jas taught the first topics, Electrical Safety Testing and Management of Medical Devices, himself as the relevant volunteer had to pull out at rather short notice. However, this went well, despite the very large class size this time around: 34 students in all! He had some help in the practical sessions from Patricia, a recent graduate of the Kyambogo Diploma course currently working at Mulago Hospital, which was a new departure for us.
This was the first time we were able to make use of the recently refurbished BME lab, shown in the accompanying photos. We also used some different accommodation this time, which turned out to be extremely good and very clean, as well as saving some valuable money for the programme! Rod McGregor arrived for Week 3 to teach on Cardiovascular equipment, and did a great job, whilst old hand Simeon Beaumont covered Anaesthetic gases and machines in the final two weeks.
The students really enjoyed taking apart the vaporisers, and seemed to learn a lot if the end of topic test was anything to go by. Simeon and Jas even managed to squeeze in a weekend safari to Murchison Falls National Park, which was a fantastic experience.
The planned visit to Mbarara Hospital unfortunately never materialised as the University didn’t manage to produce the necessary money in time, so this has had to be put off until the Spring semester.
However, Jas was contacted directly by FINS during his stay in Kampala, and it now appears that we will be going back there in March 2018 to carry on with the user training for their final year student nurses and midwives, which is great news!