News: Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, March 2004

    
AIDD: an African 'first'
  

 

 

Hopes surged for medical training of Africans when apartheid collapsed in the early 1990s. There was special reason to build on gastroenterology. Excellence in GE in South Africa dates from the 1975 opening of a gastroenterology unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Johannesburg. Carried by this 'in-house' experience and the tireless energy of founder-gastroenterologist Issy Segal MD, the "Bara"-based African Institute for Digestive Diseases (AIDD) finally saw the light of day in the late 1990s, after years of tenacious work battling red tape and inertia in the local medical establishment. The Soweto initiative thus became the first of a growing list of World Gastroenterology Organization training centers around the world. Challenges remain, but progress has been made.  
Some vital statistics:
 

First training offered
1999
 

Location
Grounds of Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital,
Soweto, Johannesburg
 

Founder and director
Issy Segal MD (until 2001); succeeded by Reid Ally MD,
Consultant Gastroenterologist, Chris Hani Baragwanath
Hospital
 

Curriculum
Training programmes for medical trainers in endoscopic
technique (MD level), endoscopic nursing,
endoscopic maintenance and logistics;
leadership skills; computer & internet use; research &
publication.
 

Trainee intake
Both qualified physicians and non-physicians.
 

Duration of training
Two to 24 months.
 

Coursework
Seminars, lectures, distance & on-site classrooms and labs.
 

Product
Abstracts at conferences; journal articles.
 

Graduates
15 graduates to March, 2004, from six countries outside
South Africa: Seven MDs, seven nurses, one medical
technologist.
 

Cost
Low, due to support from subsidies. Example: GI fellows
from outside South Africa pay about $1,500 a year.
 

Recognition
South African Gastroenterological Society (SAGES)
offers courses based on the AIDD model at most major South
African clinics: download application form for training
modules from the SAGES Academy of Digestive Diseases
(SAGES-ADD).
 

Contact
Hennie Grundling MD
President, South African Gastroenterological Society
(SAGES), Dept. of Internal Medicine, PO Box 339
9300 Bloemfontein, South Africa
Tel. +27 12 354 2246, Fax: + 27 12 329 1327;
Email Karin Fenton: kfenton@mweb.co.za
 

 

Other pages in this news feature
Dysfunctional healthcare means "desperate call" for training
OMGE wins major private sector award
Low-profile largesse - The Helffer-Kootkar Prize Foundation
OMGE training centers in seven countries - and counting
South African expatriate's long struggle to prevail


OMGE's AIDD page

 

 


Neo-natal care at Bara: Raised room temperature replaces need for incubators - saving lives and money

 

 
 

 

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19.04.04