Nsambya Hospital has set up a sh3b emergency facility that will train medical officers in treating victims of accidents, bombs and tear gas.
Dr. Kenneth Omona Olusegun examines a patient at Nsambya Hospital on Tuesday.Photo by Juliet Kasirye
Dr. Edward Ddumba, the head of the department of medicine at the hospital, said.
The programme begins next month. It will lead to the award of a masters degree in emergency medicine.
“This field is very vital but has been ignored for long. We need physicians who have skills in emergency treatment,” he said.
The course is the first of its kind in Uganda, he said.
Uganda is facing terror threats from al-Shabaab militants.
Previously, bomb victims were handled by Mulago and Nsambya hospitals, which were overwhelmed.
The graduates, he said, will also be trained in fluid replacement, handing of multiple soft injuries, fractures, burns, bleeding, diabetes, asthma emergencies and foreign bodies, especially in children.
Ddumba revealed this during the tour of the facility by MPs and other public officials.
They included Dr. Kenneth Omona (MP Kaberamaido County and chairperson of committee on health), Dr. Asuman Lukwago (Ministry of Health permanent secretary) and Dr. Steven Aisu (head of the Central Public Health Laboratory).
Omona commended the hospital for pioneering the training of emergency physicians, saying it would help decongest Mulago of victims of accidents.
Ddumba explained that because they want to produce professionals of high quality, they will admit five students every year. The course, he said, will take three years, with one year of internship.
“We shall then deploy them to other hospitals to give room for others to join,” he said.
Nsambya Hospital offers masters programmes in surgery, gynaecology, internal medicine and paediatrics.
By Cecilia Okoth,The New Vision
