Nkozi University hosts international health sciences workshop

A professor of Health Sciences at Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi. Dr. John Mugisha has asked health science educators to form local and international partnerships, in order to improve on their knowledge and teaching skills.

Mugisha also encouraged public health educators to do continuous reading and research, to be able to respond effectively to the changing trends in public health.

"Public Health is a fast changing field. New diseases keep emerging. Diseases like Yellow Fever and polio were eradicated in Uganda but now they have re-emerged. We also see strange diseases like Ebola, which never existed before. Equally changing is technology to treat and prevent various diseases," he said.

Some of the participants during the workshop

 
Mugisha also noted that teaching trends have also changed.  "Today we see big classes. We also have arrangements like part-time and weekend programmes, which did not exist in the past. Medical educators cannot afford to remain traditional, they have to keep learning and researching to be able to master all these changes," he said

Mugisha said this during the closure of the 8th Linqed Network Workshop at International Hotel, Muyenga, on recently.

Health Sciences educators during the Linqed Network workshop

 
Linqed Network is a collaborative network of schools of Health Sciences in different countries of the world, coordinated by Antwerp University School of Tropical Medicine, Belgium.

Linqed aims at fostering collaboration among schools of health sciences worldwide, so that they can share knowledge, experiences and professional skills related to teaching and learning.

The Vice-Chancellor of Nkozi University, in charge of academics, Rev. Sr. Speranza Namusisi called for more vibrant collaboration among the member institutions, to help health science educators get professional skills in teaching.

 

The workshop participants sharing a light moment during a break

 

Dr. Christopher Garimoi Orach of Makerere University's School of Health Sciences hailed the Linqed Network workshop. "The workshop's focus on higher Health Science education was crucial. Our institutions need to grow and develop," he said.

The workshop run under the theme:  Improving Education leadership and Research, Cooperative Learning and Critical Thinking in Higher Education. The workshop was supported by the Belgian Development Cooperation.

 

Participants of the Linqed Network workshop pose for a group photo during its closure at International Hotel Muyenga on Friday