Objectives: 1. Describe the Community Based Education and Service (COBES) Program at the Makerere University Faculty of Medicine 2. Describe NLM database training at other medical campuses 3. Identify challenges in bringing Ugandan villages into such community-based programs 4. Describe the impact of such programs on health information technologists, journalists, and medical faculty
Muzungu in the Mist: NLM Filings from the Frontline in Uganda. From August 2007 through June of 2008 Julia Royall, Chief of NLMs Office of International Programs, lived in subSaharan Africa where NLM has been involved since 1997. As a Fulbright Scholar to Uganda, she had a special opportunity to continue work on NLM projects from an on the ground perspective as well as carry out training in searching NLM databases for medical students, graduate students, researchers, and journalists from print, radio, and television. From her base at Makerere University in Kampala, she initiated projects and team consultations in the war torn North at Gulu Medical School; in the East in Mifumi village where malaria is endemic; in the West at the new Kabale University; and, of course, at the Faculty of Medicine, Makerere University. Her presentation will take us to visit these locations where we can see firsthand how NLM is touching librarians, students, and scientists as well as people at the village level. We will watch the development and implementation of the MedlinePlus African tutorial on malaria ( www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/africa ) and follow its progress as the local health center and outreach staff use the tutorial and reinforce its message. Finally, we will think further on the challenges of working in Africa and how NLM has found and will continue to find its unique niche while building on successful mainstream programs. Discussion and recommendations will be welcome. Presentation will draw from the following: * Working with the Community Based Education and Service (COBES) Program at the Makerere University Faculty of Medicine to create interactive and interdisciplinary MedlinePlus African tutorials for use in 40 districts and drafting outlines for three courses to be developed for COBES as part of a medical informatics curriculum. * Working with the Albert Cook Medical Library at Makerere University to facilitate training of students, faculty, and researchers in the use of NLM databases. * Conducting similar NLM database training for faculty and researchers at Gulu Medical School in Northern Uganda. * Working with Gulu Medical School students and faculty to develop an interactive tutorial on mental health to be illustrated by children. * Working with Mifumi village in Eastern Uganda to bring them into the COBES Program. * Working with Mifumi village Health Center to determine whether or not an ICT intervention can make a difference in morbidity and mortality of malaria. * Working with Tororo Hospital in developing an eHMIS (electronic health management and information system), the first such electronic system to be adopted by a Ugandan hospital. * Consulting with Kabale University in Western Uganda on its IT system and its interest in counseling and addiction, as well as exploring opportunities for local partnerships. * Working with Ugandan Health Communication Alliance (journalists) in the use of NLM databases for their coverage of health issues. * Training journalists who write about health from Uganda's national and regional newspapers and radio and television stations in searching NLM's databases (in Kampala and Gulu) * Partnering with Faculty of Medicine at Makerere University in developing an E-pathology project for remote diagnosis of medical conditions, including a digital archive of specimens.