Transferring knowledge: equity for health professionals in Ethiopia

Article type
Authors
Hagstrom C1, Kendall S2, Pielechaty R2
1Gerstein Science Information Centre, University of Toronto, Canada
2Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada
Abstract
Background: In response to the Ethiopian Government’s aim to train 5 000 specialist MDs and PhDs and 10 000 Masters graduates by 2018, the Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration (TAAAC) was established to co-build capacity and sustainability in graduate programming at Addis Ababa University (AAU). The Library Science Project (LSP) began in 2008; librarians travelled to Addis in 2011 and 2012 to offer health literacy sessions.

Objectives: A program for clinical medical librarians will build capacity in library literacy skills, including the accessing of up-to-date information, with foundational knowledge of appraising the evolving literature in evidence-based medicine and critical thinking skills to support medical faculty and trainees.

Methods: Annual train-the-trainer programs, as well as the provision of access to the University of Toronto’s online resources by affiliated researchers through the Ptolemy project, including clinical decision support tools.

Results: Approximately 400 learners have attended sessions so far, including over 160 clinical residents. The train-the-trainer aspect has resulted in a further 140 students being instructed by in-country trainers.

Conclusions: Our training sessions reinforce and sustain medical library literacy skills for librarians through an inter-professional exchange of in-country and distance training.