***Sorry for the retroactive blogging!***

Emily E. and I also had the fortunate opportunity to attend the AIHA’s program stakeholders meeting during out time in Addis.  It was a really cool event, with representatives from Tegbare-Id, Jimma University, Addis Ababa University, many of the local hospitals, three government ministries, several aid organizations, and even a few biotech businesses in attendance.  The main topics of discussion were the effectiveness of the Undergrad/Vocational curriculums at Jimma University and Tegbare-Id, specifically which classes the students should take and in what order they should be sequenced.  Both curriculums place a strong emphasis on practical skills as well as management and communication, hopefully priming graduates to make solid contributions in the Ethiopian medical system.  The country definitely needs their skills sooner than later, with one statistic thrown out that the country needs 5 thousand biomedical personnel in the next 5 years while the two programs combined at their current rates will graduate less than 5 hundred.

The conference table (There are actually two other rows of people behind the column you can’t see)

 

No meeting is complete in Ethiopia without a Coffee break too: