Botswana Global Health Program Objectives & Expectations
Program Objectives & Expectations
The Botswana Global Health Program offers a transformative, year-long fellowship for internal medicine graduates as well as month long electives for internal medicine residents to enhance global health equity. In collaboration with local partners, the program provides immersive clinical and educational experiences at Scottish Livingstone Hospital. Fellows engage in patient care, medical training and system improvement projects, gaining invaluable insights into health care challenges and contributing to meaningful global health advancements.
What are the Objectives of the Botswana Global Health Program?
Botswana's public health care system is relatively well-resourced compared to those of other sub-Saharan countries, but in a setting burdened by a high prevalence of HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and non-communicable diseases, some critical gaps remain. We support initiatives to improve medical training, systems efficiency, quality and safety, and resource utilization. The program is supported and run by three full-time onsite Harvard Faculty from the BIDMC Departments of Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology and Anesthesia.
In collaboration with in-country partners from the Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership (BHP), the University of Botswana Faculty of Medicine (UBFOM) and the Kweneng East District Health Management Team (DHMT), the program provides clinical stewardship and medical training for medical students, interns and residents from the University of Botswana, as well as district medical officers, nurses and other health care staff. The program also helps lead systems improvement and research initiatives with the goal of improving health care quality and safety.
More About Botswana Global Health Program Objectives & Expectations
Is There a Formal Orientation?
Participants will receive detailed orientation materials upon acceptance to the program. The program's in-country administrator provides logistical support prior to travel and throughout the rotation, including airport pick-up.
Does the Program Offer Accommodations?
Participants are encouraged to seek accommodations in recommended comfortable and secure housing located a short walk away from the hospital. Housing includes kitchen facilities, cleaning/laundry services and WiFi. Amenities include modern grocery shops and restaurants.
What Time Does the Day Begin/End?
Formal workday hours at the hospital are Monday to Friday, 7:30 am to 4:30 pm. Opportunities to participate in call and weekend coverage depends on the Program Directors’ discretion and the participant's level of comfort.
Trainees work closely with BIDMC faculty, and are integrated into the daily routine of the hospital depending on their specialty, serving as clinician-educators in the operating room or on the adult inpatient, critical care and obstetrics wards. Participants will work alongside hospital medical officers, nurses, medical residents, interns and students from the University of Botswana Faculty of Medicine.
Elective participants may also pursue ambulatory activities in the post-discharge and specialist consultation clinics as well as in outreach activities at other district health care facilities. Commonly encountered conditions include chronic medical diseases such as heart failure, hypertension, renal failure, infectious diseases (including TB, complications of HIV infection) and a broad range of obstetric, gynecologic and critical care conditions. The onsite BIDMC-affiliated attending physicians (in Medicine, OB and Anesthesia) and/or the attending-level global health clinical fellows supervise all clinical activities during the rotations.
Opportunities to develop teaching skills and gain clinician-educator experience are ample. Participants lead formal didactic sessions and teach on complex clinical cases, providing close clinical mentorship to local medical officers, medical students, interns and residents. In addition, participants may be asked to assist in developing educational materials, including talks and case-reports, and to contribute to ongoing longitudinal quality improvement and research projects at the hospital and across the district.
Program activities are thoughtfully and purposefully intended to ethically engage participants in local health care capacity building efforts. Onsite mentorship with relative independence gives participants an opportunity to step fully into the role of clinician-educators and to recognize how much they have to offer. The bidirectional nature of the clinical and educational exchange is fundamental to the program's success. While contributing to the education of local trainees, participants' own training is enhanced by what they learn from local health care providers and trainees about patients' clinical and cultural context, navigating local health care systems, and discerning resourceful strategies to overcome system constraints and challenges. Immersion in a resource-challenged setting will call upon participants to fully engage, both personally and professionally, and contribute to meaningful work that addresses health care disparities.
