Parntering Programs

To see presentations made by some partnering programs at the 2010 African Medical Education Symposium, please click here. 

 

Partnering programs (often previously called "twinning programs") are programs in which one university partners with another to exchange knowledge, expertise, and resources.  Partnering programs vary greatly in size, scope, and structure.  There can be beneficial partnering programs between two African institutions or between an African university and a university on another continent.  According to a 2002 paper on twinning programs published collaboratively by MacDonagh, Jiddawi, and Parry, benefits of well-executed partnering programs can include:

• sustainable collaboration;
• ability to target resources;
• training opportunities for both parties;
• regular personal contact;
• trouble-shooting;
• mutual research opportunities; and
• potential involvement of other specialties.

The authors recommend the following considerations to avoid potential pitfalls in the design of partnering programs:

• differing expectations-- try to agree on clearly defined goals and expectations at the beginning;
• communication-- persist, but do not force it;
• key people can become sick or leave the institution; do not rely on one person;
• assess people carefully; people who express a wish to become involved are sometimes interested not as a part of long-term development, but as an opportunity for a 'free trip';
• granting of visas for visitors may be difficult; plan well in advance.   

There are many institutional linkages between many universities, both among African institutions and between African institutions and institutions on other continents.  Most medical schools have linkages with multiple other medical schools, with some programs being more extensive than others.  Some of the many twinning programs currently active involving the faculties of medicine of African Universities are:  

• Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia) with Emory University (USA)

• Catholic University, Faculty of Medicine (Mozambique) with University of Pittsburgh (USA), West Virginia University (USA), CUAMM – Collegio Universitario Aspiranti Medici Missionari (Italy), University of Ipswich (U.K.) Maastrich University (Holland)

• Cocody University (Cote d’Ivoire) with University of California (USA), University of Marseille, and L’Université Médicale Virtuelle Francophone

• Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (Tanzania) with University of Utah (USA) and Duke University (USA) and Darwin University (Australia),Yale University (USA), and Connecticut University (USA)

• Jimma University (Ethiopia) with Columbia University (USA), Johns Hopkins University (USA), Copenhagen University (Denmark), 7 Belgian Universities, and Ludwig Maximillian University (Germany)
• Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana) with University of Michigan (USA)

• Makarere University College of Health Sciences (Uganda) with Johns Hopkins University (USA), Baylor College of Medicine (USA), and Yale University (USA)

• Moi University (Kenya) with Indiana University (USA)
• Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (Tanzania) with the University of California, San Francisco (USA)
• Orotta School of Medicine (Eritrea) with George Washington University (USA)  

• Université de Bamako, Faculté de Médecine, de Pharmacie et d’Odonto-Stomatologie (Mali) with University of Maryland (USA), Tulane University (USA), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (UK), University of Aix Marseilles II (France), the University of Angers (France), the University of Paris VI (France), University of Abidjan (Cote d’Ivore), University of Dakar (Senegal), and University of Cotonou (Benin)

• University of Gezira, Faculty of Medicine (Sudan) with Faculty of Medicine Suez Canal University of Egypt, McMaster school of Medicine (Canada), Columbia University (USA), Faculty of Medicine and Applied Sciences in Yemen, Dundee Educational Center (UK), and Maastricht in Netherlands

• College of Medicine, University of Ibadan (Nigeria) with University of Illinois (USA), University of Chicago (USA), and University of Pennsylvania (USA)

• The University of Rwanda with Duke University (USA)
• University of Kenya with University of Washington (USA)

• Walter Sisulu University, School of Medicine (South Africa) with Winchester University (UK), University of Washington (USA)

In addition to the many institution-to-institution partnering programs, there are a number of health-related bilateral cooperative programs between a university and a governmental institution, such as the program between the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia and Tulane University (USA) or the many cooperative programs between African Universities and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, USA).

 

Please contact us if you know of other active twinning programs that could be added to this list.