Our Programs
Clinical Care & Education
Collaborations with the University of Botswana
Global Health Experience for Penn medical Students and Residents
Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Programs
Clinical Care & Education
In 2004 Penn signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health in Botswana to participate in medical care and educational programs at the Princess Marina Hospital in the capital city, Gaborone. This was later expanded to include the Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital in Francistown, the second largest city as well as nine other district hospitals in Botswana. In 2004 Penn received funding from the US Public Health Service through PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which is a program that provides US Public Health Service funding to 16 affected nations, including Botswana.
The combination of PEPFAR funds and research grants currently support approximately 50 full time physicians, nurses, social workers, and auxiliary health personnel working for Penn in Botswana. Many are located in Gaborone, while an expanding number are now working in Francistown. Our doctors and other health care personnel provide inpatient care on the medical wards at Princess Marina and Nyangabgwe Hospitals, outpatient care in the HIV clinics, and outreach inpatient and outpatient care at the surrounding district hospitals and local government clinics. In addition, Penn physicians and nurses run a referral clinic for complicated HIV/TB co-infected patients. The Penn physicians are directly involved in training local providers with daily “bedside” teaching and in teaching at four weekly educational conferences.
Collaborations with the University of Botswana
In September 2006, the University of Botswana and Penn signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish collaborations in medicine, nursing and for student exchange programs at the two institutions. The University of Botswana decided to form a new medical school that enrolled its first undergraduate class in August 2008. Previously, Botswana was sending approximately 50 students a year to train in medicine other countries including South Africa, Australia or Great Britain. Perhaps only 10% of these students returned to Botswana to practice medicine. This trend is now changing and in 2007-2008, approximately 45 Batswana medical students returned to Botswana for internship training at the main referral hospitals. Penn has helped to develop the curriculum for a rotating internship at the teaching hospitals. Penn also helped develop a curriculum for post-graduate residency programs in Internal Medicine.
Other Schools at Penn have established collaborations with the University of Botswana, including the School of Nursing, the Wharton Business School, the School of Arts and Science, Annenberg School of Communication, the School of Social Policy and Practice and the Veterinary School of Medicine. Exchange programs for trainees include Penn undergraduates doing “Semester Abroad” experiences in Botswana, summer internship programs for Penn undergraduates, graduate, and nursing students in Botswana, summer internships for University of Botswana students at Penn with full tuition and housing, doctoral student scholarships for University of Botswana students in PhD programs at Penn, and sabbatical experiences for University of Botswana faculty at Penn.
Global Health Experience for Penn Medical Students and Residents
In academic year 2008-09, 36 fourth year medical students chose a 6-week elective to work as a sub-intern on the medical wards in Botswana at the Princess Marina Hospital. In addition, 16 third year Internal Medicine residents, and approximately 12 other residents or fellows in Neurology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Infectious Diseases, and Emergency Medicine did 4-6 week electives in Botswana, which has become the most sought after location for experience in International Medicine for Penn trainees. Penn rents apartments and a house in Gaborone for medical students, residents and short-term visiting faculty, and has office space for faculty in Gaborone. Many of the Penn trainees have described the rotation in Botswana as the most important experience of their medical career.
While we accepted non-Penn residents for rotations in Botswana in the past, we no longer do.
Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Programs
Penn is one of 19 CFAR programs in the USA. The goal of the CFAR is to establish Core facilities to promote HIV research. Penn has established a CFAR Core in Botswana to support clinical and translational research studies. The Core supports study nurses and a microbiology technician to help with sample collection and processing, human subjects approvals, informed consent, and identifying subjects for research studies. Through the activities of the CFAR Core in Botswana a growing number of Penn and Botswana researchers are participating in HIV research. Currently 22 research projects are ongoing in Botswana. All involve Penn scientists and all recent projects include collaborations with colleagues at the University of Botswana or the Ministry of Health. Many of the projects address issues related to HIV and its complications; however, collaborative research projects under development include maternal and child morbidity and mortality, the ethics of informed consent, road accidents and obesity in Botswana.