Calgary-Mbarara Emergency Medicine Collaboration

The Calgary-Mbarara Emergency Medicine (CMEM) collaboration was founded in 2019. It is a partnership between the University of Calgary Department of Emergency Medicine and the Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) Department of Emergency Medicine in Uganda. Our goal is to support the development of emergency medicine (EM) at MUST through faculty and leadership development, trainee support, and exchange experiences between Calgary and Mbarara. 

EM is a new and evolving specialty that was born from the realization that preventable morbidity and mortality was occurring within emergency departments, and that patients with acute needs would be best served by doctors trained specifically to care for them. EM was first recognized as a specialty in Uganda in 2015, and there is a demonstrable gap in hospital services for emergency patients. Up to this point, much of the public health efforts in sub-Saharan Africa have been targeted to treating communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Yet, there is a continuing and increasing burden of illness from acute injuries and infections, maternal and child health emergencies, and other emergencies arising from non-communicable diseases.

CMEM facilitates the exchange of EM faculty and trainees between Calgary and Mbarara to support the continuing development of this fledgling discipline. Several times a year, faculty from the University of Calgary travel to MUST as visiting consultants and professors, working both in the hospital and teaching emergency medicine at the university. They bring vital equipment, knowledge, and a passion for teaching with them. This year, a pediatric emergency medicine fellow will also be joining the project.

MUST EM fellows will have the opportunity to come to Calgary for an educational program in medical education and leadership delivered by the Department of Emergency Medicine. As of 2022, this has unfortunately been delayed due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

In 2020, MUST graduated the first five EM specialists in the country. These are the future healthcare leaders of Uganda. Providing Ugandan trainees and faculty exposure to more established EM departments and educational programs will help equip these talented and committed pioneers to further develop EM within Uganda, and more widely across East Africa.

Key Contacts:

Dr. Andrew Battison (UCalgary)
Dr. Margriet Greidanus (UCalgary)
Dr. Prisca Kizito (MUST)
Dr. Ian Wishart (UCalgary)
 

Partners:

Mbarara University of Science and Technology

University of Calgary, Department of Emergency Medicine 

Funding

This project is supported by the McLaughlin Travelling Medical Education Fund, the Calgary zone respiratory therapists, the University of Calgary Department of Emergency Medicine and the International, Local, and Global Health Office, and the MUST Department of Emergency.