All set for 3rd National Health Professionals’ Education Conference

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Government has finalized preparations for the Third National Health Professionals’ Education and Training and Health Care conference, scheduled to take place at the Source of Nile Hotel in Jinja next month.

President Yoweri Museveni is set to preside over the event which is scheduled to take place from April 1- 4. The theme is: “A transformed health education and training for better healthcare outcomes and a productive population”.     

The conference will bring together experts, researchers, health care administrators, principals, tutors, students, industry leaders, and policy makers as well as health professionals to discuss transformative approaches to health education and training in Uganda.

“I call upon Ugandans, especially stakeholders in health education and training, to come up and participate very actively in the conference,” urged higher education state minister, Dr John Chrysestom Muyingo, while addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre on Wednesday.

He said there are many changes in the medical field, especially in skilling, and that the event will be an important platform to share insights, knowledge and skills about training human resources in the medical field.

According to Dr Safina Musene, the commissioner of health training institutions at the Ministry of Education and Sports, a total of 400 participants are expected to attend.

“This conference will feature paper presentations (both researched and innovative), but also alongside skills competition,” she said, adding that participation is through registration.

Musene said that last month, health training institutions in Uganda embarked on skills competitions in the area of nursing, midwifery, clinical medicine and medical laboratory. The students who performed well at the regional level will be presented at the national level to compete in the listed areas.

The skills competition will be on the second day of the upcoming conference (April 2), and the winners will be announced on the third day.   

“We shall also have exhibitions which will look mainly at new technologies in health education, and best practices in health care provision. We shall also recognize the best performing principals, tutors and clinicians in the area of education and training of medical workers,” she said.

Musene said they are collaborating with Belgian development agency Enabel, the Allied Health Professionals Council, the Uganda Nurses and Midwifery Council and the Association of Principals for Health Training institutions in Uganda and Self-Care Initiative and Seed Global to see that the conference is done well.