High resolution chest computed tomography findings in patients with clinically suspected COVID-19 pneumonia in Uganda: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The alarming spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a shortage of RT-PCR kits in Uganda necessitating the use of high-resolution chest Computed Tomography to guide patient management and treatment.

Main Objective: To describe the chest HRCT findings in patients with clinically suspected COVID-19 pneumonia and to compare its diagnostic accuracy to RT-PCR. .

Experiences of medical students and faculty regarding the use of long case as a formative assessment method at a tertiary care teaching hospital in a low resource setting: a qualitative study.

Introduction: The long case is used to assess medical students' proficiency in performing clinical tasks. As a formative assessment, the purpose is to offer feedback on performance, aiming to enhance and expedite clinical learning. The long case stands out as one of the primary formative assessment methods for clinical clerkship in low-resource settings but has received little attention in the literature.

Stakeholder views on continuing professional development for doctors working in public primary care facilities in central Uganda: a qualitative study.

Introduction: the primary care workforce in the public sector of Uganda is under the district health system. The doctors in this workforce provide leadership and frontline promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative care. Their numbers are still low and therefore need effective support through continuing professional development (CPD).

Perceptions and experiences of undergraduate medical students regarding social accountability: a cross-sectional study at a Subsaharan African medical school.

Background: Medical schools are called to be socially accountable by medical education and healthcare system stakeholders. Social accountability is a feature of excellent medical education. Medical students are essential to the development of socially accountable medical schools.

Development of a mentorship framework guide to promote the acquisition of interprofessional education and collaborative practice competencies during undergraduate training: a mini-Delphi cross-sectional study.

Background: The current global burden of disease which includes emerging and re-emerging diseases calls for interprofessional partnerships and team work to work collaboratively to solve community health problems. Inter-professional collaboration needs to start with training whereby learners are mentored in inter-professional teams and collaborative care. Many guidelines do exist in teaching and learning but faculty often do not have guidelines on how to mentor learners to acquire the needed inter-professional competencies.

Perceptions and Experiences of Undergraduate Medical Students Regarding Social Accountability: a Cross-sectional Study at a Subsaharan African Medical School.

Background: Medical schools are called to be socially accountable as a feature of excellent medical education. Medical students are essential to the development of socially accountable medical schools. Therefore, understanding the perceptions and experiences of medical students regarding social accountability is critical for efforts to improve social accountability practices and outcomes.

Using the modified Delphi technique to develop a framework for interprofessional education during international electives in health professions training institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: International electives provide a learning platform where interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) skills can be cultivated. However, hardly any frameworks to guide the implementation of interprofessional education (IPE) during international electives, especially in the context of low-income settings have been published. To address this gap, this study used the modified Delphi approach to develop an IPE framework guide for international electives to be used by health professions training institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Understanding and barriers to formation Professional Identity among current and recent graduates of nurses and midwifery in two universities in a low resource setting: A qualitative study.

Introduction: Professional identity (PI) in nursing is a sense of oneself and one's relationship with others that is influenced by characteristics, norms, and values of the nursing discipline, resulting in an individual thinking, acting, and feeling like a nurse. Therefore, transformative educational approaches that include professional judgement, reasoning, critical self-evaluation and a sense of accountability are required to foster professional identity. We explored the understanding and barriers to professional identity formation among recent graduates and nursing students in Uganda.

Experiences of faculty and students regarding a locally developed framework for implementing interprofessional education during international electives in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Given that there are hardly any comprehensive frameworks to guide institutions on approaches to use as they implement interprofessional education and collaborative practice during international electives, we developed and piloted a framework to address this gap. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to explore the experiences of faculty and students regarding the use of the developed interprofessional education and collaborative practice framework during international electives.

Methods: This was an exploratory qualitative study.

Diagnostic accuracy of chest ultrasound scan in the diagnosis of childhood tuberculosis.

Chest Ultrasound Scan (CUS) has been utilized in place of CXR in the diagnosis of adult pneumonia with similar or higher sensitivity and specificity to CXR. However, there is a paucity of data on the use of CUS for the diagnosis of childhood TB. This study aimed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of CUS for childhood TB.

Observer agreement in single computerized tomography use for diagnosing paediatric head and neck malignancies at Uganda Cancer Institute.

Background: In the Ugandan setting, investigation for PHNM with CT uses a protocol with both unenhanced and contrast enhanced procedures hence doubling the ionizing radiation exposure. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of single CT procedures in diagnosing PHNM.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using CT images from patients, aged fifteen years and below, investigated for head and neck malignancies at the Uganda Cancer Institute.

Family medicine rotation in Botswana: experiences of fifth-year medical students in decentralized rural training sites.

Introduction: globally, medical students have been exposed to decentralized training in rural settings. The experiences of these students regarding this kind of training have been reported in various settings. However, such students´ experiences have rarely been reported from sub-Saharan Africa.

Interprofessional education during international electives: Perceptions of health professions students from selected institutions in Africa.

Although international electives provide important opportunities for the development of interprofessional education and collaboration practice skills, there is limited literature that describes students' perceptions in various training institutions in Africa. This study aimed to address this gap by establishing the student's perceptions of interprofessional education during international electives from four African health professional training universities. This was a cross-sectional quantitative study.

Magnetic resonance imaging findings among young adults with low back pain at Nsambya hospital.

Background: Studies on MRI findings among patients with LBP have been conducted; especially among adolescents and young adult population in developed countries. However, MRI lumbar spine evaluation findings in young adult patients with low back pain in Uganda is not known. The purpose of this study was to determine the MRI findings and their correlation to clinical features in young adult patients with low back pain in Nsambya hospital.

Assessment of Preparedness for Remote Teaching and Learning to Transform Health Professions Education in Sub-Saharan Africa in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study With a Case Study Approach.

Background: The current COVID-19 pandemic is affecting all aspects of society worldwide. To combat the pandemic, measures such as face mask-wearing, hand-washing and -sanitizing, movement restrictions, and social distancing have been introduced. These measures have significantly disrupted education, particularly health professions education, which depends on student-patient contact for the development of clinical competence.

An audit of registered radiology equipment resources in Uganda.

Introduction: the third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) relates to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and provision of quality essential health services. The Government of Uganda has operationalized this through the National Health Policy which stresses the importance of availability of functioning medical equipment in health facilities. There have been efforts by the Ministry of Health and Atomic Energy Council in Uganda to compile an inventory of imaging equipment in the country, however, this information has not been widely published.

Perceptions of radiography students toward problem-based learning almost two decades after its introduction at Makerere University, Uganda.

Introduction: Problem-based learning (PBL) has been reported to be a valuable student-centred learning approach across the globe. In PBL students first encounter a problem, which triggers discussion, followed by student-centred inquiry. Makerere University College of Health Sciences has been using PBL for radiography students since 2002.

Self-Reported Competence and Impact of Research Training among Medical Radiography Graduates from a Developing Country.

Introduction: Research output from radiographers in developing countries is generally low. This could be attributable to a lack of basic research skills. One way of improving this is research training for undergraduate radiography students.

Utilizing students' experiences and opinions of feedback during problem based learning tutorials to develop a facilitator feedback guide: an exploratory qualitative study.

Background: Feedback delivery within a Problem Based Learning tutorial is a key activity for facilitators in order to enhance student learning. The purpose of this study was to explore students' experiences of feedback delivery in a PBL tutorial and use this information to design a feasible facilitator feedback delivery guide.

Methods: It was an exploratory qualitative study in which individual interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with students who had an experience of the tutorial process.

Factors that Influence Radiographers' Decisions to Pursue Postgraduate Education: An Exploratory Qualitative Study.

Background: Radiography has continued to expand since the discovery of x-rays with newer technologies and responsibilities for radiographers. Consequently, radiographers need to learn new skills in order to remain relevant in health care. Radiography currently needs a generation of radiographers who can also get engaged in research and advance the profession through evidence-based practices.

The intricate relationship between a medical school and a teaching hospital: A case study in Uganda.

Background: The relationship between medical schools and teaching hospitals is full of opportunities but also challenges even though they have complementary goals that could enhance each other. Although medical schools and teaching hospitals may face some similar challenges around the world, there could be context-specific observations that differ in resource-rich versus resource-limited settings. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that are perceived to have influenced the relationship between a medical school and a teaching hospital in Uganda, a resource-limited setting.

A phenomenological study to explore the experiences of Ugandan women that have undergone transvaginal ultrasound.

Introduction: Transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) is an important examination of the female pelvis that involves the transducer being inserted into the vagina to obtain more detailed images of the pelvic organs. Unfortunately, this examination has received mixed experiences from the women who have undergone it. This study set out to explore the lived experiences of Ugandan women who have undergone TVUS.

Standardizing assessment practices of undergraduate medical competencies across medical schools: challenges, opportunities and lessons learned from a consortium of medical schools in Uganda.

Introduction: Health professions education is gradually moving away from the more traditional approaches to new innovative ways of training aimed at producing professionals with the necessary competencies to address the community health needs. In response to these emerging trends, Medical Education for Equitable Services to All Ugandans (MESAU), a consortium of Ugandan medical schools developed key competencies desirable of graduates and successfully implemented Competency Based Education (CBE) for undergraduate medical students.

Objectives: To examine the current situation and establish whether assessment methods of the competencies are standardized across MESAU schools as well as establish the challenges, opportunities and lessons learned from the MESAU consortium.