This is a guest post that has been compiled and edited by Jonathan Miller, Education and Data Analysis Manager at Medical Aid International. It describes the ongoing programme undertaken by Medical Aid International, in partnership with Martha Chipanda, the Oral Health Coordinator at the Malawi Government Ministry of Health. The programme was funded by the Scottish Government through the MalDent Project. It aims to ensure the sustainability of healthcare equipment investment in the region by providing holistic Biomedical Engineering training for students in Malawi.
Contributors: Martha Chipanda, Jonathan Miller, Tim Beacon, and Jeremy Bagg
Our journey starts over 20 years ago when Tim Beacon noticed the desperate need for medical equipment in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Tim, being driven and having a can-do attitude, set about utilising his contacts to make a difference. He built Medical Aid International from the ground up to focus on this aim.
Tim has a varied background across a number of different fields including roles as an Operating Department Practitioner, outdoor adventure trainer, running personal development courses, university and military healthcare lecturing, and more. He completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Travel Health at Glasgow School of Medicine and is also the author of The Gap Year Handbook. An Essential Guide to Adventure Travel (available for free download here).
In all of his previous jobs and his life in general, Tim has a history of responding to challenges with vigour and decisive action. When attending meetings addressing the healthcare situation in LMICs as part of his work at Medical Aid International, he noticed the topic of Biomedical Engineering and maintenance arising almost every time. No one seemed to be doing anything about this need, so Tim sought to address it himself.
At first, Medical Aid International partnered with Mercy Ships to deliver an on-the-ground 8-week course in Biomedical Engineering. Whilst this programme was extremely effective, the cost was prohibitively expensive to be rolled out to a wider audience; there were also the practical, logistical issues of getting to people! To create the solution that would be equally useful, but more cost effective, Medical Aid International invested over £150,000 to produce a comprehensive, online Biomedical Engineering Programme which is available in both English and French.
This multi-faceted programme includes a robust online training course, professional grade toolkit, a set of textbooks and a digital library of service manuals. The students are taught through a series of over 70 videos covering a wide range of topics, all tailored to the LMIC environment. Students must answer over 300 multiple choice questions throughout the course to pass, ensuring rigorous learning.
The course is designed for hospital “fixers” and estates managers who already have responsibility for looking after the hospital equipment, and upskills them to be more effective in their roles. By supporting their passion and enthusiasm with practical knowledge and resources, a huge day-to-day impact is achieved.
Research has been conducted into the effectiveness of the programme and found that students rate the course over 9.5/10 for course satisfaction and over 9/10 for course impact. A full data analysis report on the first 50 students that completed the course can be found here.
This brings us to the present day, where we have over 85 students across more than 12 countries with both the English and French versions of the course in use. Our impact in Malawi is particularly significant, a point of pride for us, with 27 students having either completed the programme or currently studying. These students are spread out geographically across the country, from Karonga in the North to Blantyre in the South (not forgetting Lilongwe in the Centre too). We’re proud to have worked with organisations both large and small, from governments to NGOs.
Medical Aid International is pleased to see the excellent investment in dental equipment that is being made in Malawi as part of the MalDent Project. However, safeguarding the investment for the long-term is also an important consideration. This is where our Biomedical Engineering Programme comes into play. By providing the online course to students we are arming them with vital knowledge to repair and maintain the equipment provided.
The textbooks and service manuals also allow for future study to further the students’ capabilities. By providing the professional grade toolkit we ensure the students are well resourced and can put into practice their newly acquired skills. Through the provision of this Biomedical Engineering training, the investments into new equipment are protected for the long-term and provide a lasting impact into the future.
Now to the MalDent project. Six students (five dental therapists and one biomedical engineer) across all regions of Malawi were selected to undertake our programme. The students have now all received their toolkits and have started the course. Here are some fantastic pictures of students receiving their toolkits; many thanks to Martha for arranging delivery and taking such great photos!
All six students have been working diligently and have completed the course in just a matter of weeks. We truly believe this hard work will pay off, benefiting the students, the healthcare facilities, and their patients. We will be sending out certificates to each of the students shortly to both congratulate them and celebrate their fantastic achievement. We look forward to hearing about the projects undertaken by our graduates and would like to thank the MalDent project, once again, for making this all possible.
The bespoke LMIC course (which focuses on equipment actually found in LMICs) teaches the students about:
- Unit 0: Health and Safety
- Unit 1: The Frequency Spectrum
- Unit 2: Electrical Safety
- Unit 3: Electrocardiogram (ECG)
- Unit 4: Defibrillation
- Unit 5: Patient Monitoring
- Unit 6: Infusion Devices
- Unit 7: Premature Baby Incubators (PBIs)
- Unit 8: Ultrasound
- Unit 9: Surgical Diathermy
- Unit 10: Hygiene Guidelines
- Unit 11a: Anaesthetics, Oxygen and Suction Devices
- Unit 11b: The Operating Department and Sterilisation
- Unit 12: First Aid
- Unit 13: Train the Trainer
We are real advocates of the “Train the Trainer” approach. By this we mean that we train the students how to become trainers, so they can teach others and share their knowledge. This allows for best practice and benchmark standards to be developed hospital-wide – improving equipment maintenance and patient care.
We look forward to sharing the success stories once the students have been given the opportunity to put their training into practice!
Tim Beacon, CEO of Medical Aid International says:
“It is so wonderful to be working with MalDent on this project. Their long-term strategic vision, that we share, which encompasses this vital area of equipment support is to be highly commended. Giving these engineers the physical resources and foundational knowledge, which can now be built on as they develop their specialisation in dental work, is essential. It has also developed the communication infrastructure between them, which as the drive to develop dental services in Malawi continues, will be extremely beneficial.”
Martha Chipanda, the Oral Health Coordinator at the Malawi Government Ministry of Health says:
“I am very excited to see all of my students succeeding, many thanks to the Scottish Government, University of Glasgow and MalDent Project for the effort they have made to sponsor this program. I will fail in my job if I do not thank the Directorate of Health Technical Support Services (HTSS) Mr. Chimphepo, Ministry of Health Headquarters, for understanding the importance and granting us an opportunity to train dental therapists along with biomedical team in biomedical engineering. This is a development that is going to see our equipment being repaired and taken care of at district level where biomedical engineers are not easily available. It has started to implement our newly launched National Oral Health Policy on the area of infrastructure and equipment. It is my hope that another cohort is on the way to be trained. I am very confident that my team will do a great job on the emergency repairs of our dental equipment. A big congratulations to the students. Tim, Jonathan, Prof. Jeremy you are a blessing.”
Medical Aid International would like to thank the MalDent Project, the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Government for their involvement with this fantastic project.
