Weill Cornell pilot program to begin in 2007
We are excited to announce that Weill Cornell and Bugando will be taking their partnership to a new level with the initiation of a fellows and residents program beginning in January 2007.
Through this program, students and faculty from both institutions will interact on a daily basis, greatly enhancing the exchange of knowledge and ideas between the two institutions.
The program will be realized through the rotating assignment of two fellows and between two and four residents from Weill Cornell’s Pediatrics and Internal Medicine departments who will spend approximately four weeks at Bugando. The Weill Cornell doctors will serve primarily as clinical instructors for medical and post-graduate students at Bugando University College of Health Sciences (BUCHS), while also alleviating the physician shortage at the Bugando Medical Centre. To ease the acclimation process for arriving fellows and residents, the outgoing and incoming program participants will overlap for a few days so that responsibilities can be appropriately transferred and the departing doctors can share advice and knowledge gained during their time at Bugando.
Jointly funded by Weill Cornell and the Touch Foundation, the program will greatly benefit both BUCHS and Weill Cornell institutions. While reducing the case burdens of doctors at BMC and assisting BUCHS in its aspiration to become the finest healthcare training facility in East Africa, the visiting New York physicians will also be gaining invaluable first hand experience treating diseases endemic to the developing world. The four-week rotations of fellows and residents will run through June 2007, at which time Weill Cornell, Touch and BUCHS will have the opportunity to evaluate the program and determine future plans.