Abstract:

The “A NAME for Health” project, funded by the EDULINK program, is a project that establishes A Network Approach in Medical Education (NAME) for the Pursuit of Quality in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Health Systems. It aims to improve Health Care through an ongoing intervention quality program on Medical Education, at 4 HEIs in Portugal, Angola and Mozambique: Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto (project coordinator), Portugal; Faculty of Medicine of Agostinho Neto University, Luanda, Angola; Faculty of Medicine of Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique; and Faculty of Health Sciences of Lúrio University, Nampula, Mozambique. São João Hospital, E.P.E. and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation are associated with this Project.
Specifically, this Higher Education project aims at reinforcing the Partner Institutions’ ability to improve academic skills and clinical specializations in three priority areas (Paediatrics, Gynaecology & Obstetrics and Infectious Diseases) related with the Millennium Development Goals. The presence of a qualified network for Medical Education helps to elevate the overall level of medical care available to the people of Angola and Mozambique, through academic stimulation. The network’s priority is to reinforce the capabilities and the existing strengths of the Higher Education sector, through the creation of a more qualified staff and supporting an efficient development of these HEIs.
With these objectives in mind, three types of activities are being developed: structuring, academic and clinical activities. Structuring activities include the establishment of Centers for Medical Education, creation of a Network Technological Platform to the different HEI (e-learning and long-distance learning), and the establishment of Students Support Office; academic activities consist of an analysis of the medical curriculum, its reform, implementation and monitoring, and IT Seminar/Conference; clinical activities comprise the establishment of a mobility program for clinical teachers and physicians.
The project’s strength and sustainability come from the belief that improvements in the whole Health System will be attained through the improvement of clinical and academic practice.
Increasing the Institutions’ scientific, pedagogical and clinical levels will enhance the network of Portuguese speaking countries, strengthening the link between Medical Education Healthcare in the African Higher Education Institutions.
Sustainability will also be reinforced through the Technological Platform (which will be maintained among the Institutions) since it will enhance the investments that are being done in the partner Universities’ information and communication technologies.
Curricular reforms and their adaptation to international standards, together with the expected multiplier effects obtained through the clinical mobility program, will also be a way of supporting academic and clinical sustainability after the conclusion of the project.
The competence acquisitions in the three priority clinical areas will also have a multiplier effect at the level of knowledge transfer to the other health agents such as nurses and health community agents. Focusing on Medical Education by structuring its organization, will generate involvement of young medical students, which will be the future physicians and clinical teachers (The Project A NAME for Health is supported by EDULINK Program, Contract nr. 9 ACP RPR 118 # 29)

Keywords:

higher education, medical education, internationalization, cooperation for.