GFF: Generating health for all

The East Africa Family Medicine Initiative has been spearheaded by GFF for four years, and as of October 2015 transformed into the College of Family Physicians of Eastern and Central Africa. We have sponsored delegates from Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania to attend an annual collaborative meeting. Bringing emerging leaders in Family Medicine together has created momentum and strong partnerships in the region. Learn about other ways to support East African Family Medicine training by watching this video.

We have now sponsored many residents for Family Medicine tuition, at both Makerere University (5 active, 4 graduated) in Kampala and at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (1 graduate, 1 passed away three months before finishing). In her application, Dr. Winnie Ayenro wrote: " I am a resilient and hardworking young doctor and will always go an extra mile to achieve my dreams and desires. I was especially interested in counseling people and working with vulnerable populations whose access to health care has so many limitations." and she has certainly proved this to be true! Listen to Dr. Lillian Mukisa, a past scholarship student, describe the importance of Family Medicine in her country: Family Medicine by the numbers, the impact of community-based training, how Family Medicine makes a difference, her passion for Family Medicine, and how your support for tuition helps.

Patan Academy of Health Sciences is a medical school in the Kathmandu valley that is dedicated to serving rural communities. They dedicate a quarter of their training to serving and learning in rural and underserved communities. GFF has raised over $40,000 towards the running of PAHS medical school and hospital, we have provided a library of Family and General Medicine books for their GP training program, and we are now sponsoring their upgrade of a long-distance educational classroom system. Click here to hear about the benefits of rural training from one of the PAHS students. We did an interview with him at Nuwakot right before the earthquake crushed the hospital.

The Myanmar Medical Association created a College of Family Medicine in 2014. Christine used GFF-created materials for two workshops to facilitate their curriculum development for this innovative training in Yangon. Creating an academic program that is context-driven and focuses on patient-centered care was our joint objective.

It's been over 30 years since Dr. John Ross partnered from Memorial (Newfoundland) with Makerere (Kampala) in establishing a community-based teaching site in Tororo. In those years, the housing built for staff and for students has been decimated by termites. Training in rural areas takes dedication, but students and supervisors also need a roof over their heads. It's challenging enough working in rural conditions; help GFF raise funds to rebuild a strong foundation for community training.

UPDATE: GFF has raised all the funds to rebuild this training site! Stay tuned for progress reports.

The Ministry of Health in Ethiopia has recognized Family Medicine as critical to the delivery of high-quality primary care. Gondar University hoped to start a residency training program shortly, and so three of us affiliated with GFF ran a workshop to stimulate a discussion for the specialist teachers, helping them understand the principles of Family Medicine that might apply in their setting. This workshop was designed by friends at the Besrour Centre of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.