PCI has just completed a week of training in Amman, Jordan, for clinicians working with the international humanitarian medical organization Médécins Sans Frontières (MSF). In keeping with the rapidly growing burden of non-communicable disease (NCDs) such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease worldwide, MSF is expanding its provision of NCD care services across a number of settings where their assessments highlight a significant unmet need. The partnership between MSF and PCI means an opportunity for the two organisations to work together to offer a high quality training programme to support clinical staff to manage these conditions, drawing on the latest evidence and best practice whilst recognizing the constraints specific to each local setting and offering pragmatic guidance.
PCI Trainers Dr Claire Hollingsworth and Dr Karen Bevan-Mogg worked with 18 doctors and 6 nurses from diverse projects in Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Swaziland, Uzbekistan and Ukraine, where they work in isolated and often dangerous conditions. Karen commented that “MSF are really fortunate to have such dedicated, energetic staff, who are trying to deliver good quality medical care for vulnerable people in incredibly difficult conditions “. The workshop was specifically tailored to MSF’s needs, including new materials about using insulin in low resource settings (where can you store it, how do you adjust the regime with a very limited choice of options?) and four dramas about ‘distress’, which addressed the important relationship between mental health issues and NCDs in areas of conflict and poverty.
Towards the end of the week, one of the doctors from Baghdad told Claire “I am so excited to be able to take these guidelines back to my project and teach the other young doctors so we can all start practicing the same way”. We are now looking forward to keeping in touch to track the impact of the training on participants, their teams, and their patients as they return home and back to clinical practice.