CONTINUING EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

Over the years we has developed numerous programs to promote healthy behavior through community-wide forums, formations of health committees, and training community health promoters and local volunteers.

Environmental Capacity Building
MSCI participated in The World Bank’s "Environmental Capacity Building in Africa" Program in Washington, D.C. We were responsible for developing a manual and teaching a course on the role of risk assessment in pollution management for African environmental health professionals. In addition, ICEH organized and conducted field trips and site visits to provide participants with experience about real pollution problems and solutions.

Health Training
Under this six-year contract, MSCI supplied technical advisors to the Ministry of Health and its Institute of Health Science to improve Swaziland’s capabilities in three areas:

• Training of nurses and other health workers in primary health care, maternal and child health, family planning, and child survival technologies

• Delivery of rural health services

• Administrative and logistics systems for the nation’s four regional hospitals

Our team of nurses and nurse-midwifes evaluated and revised Swaziland's training curricula to accommodate the expanded role of nurses in a public health system that has few physicians. The program emphasized classroom teaching and hands-on practical training. We developed educational materials, conducted training programs, and helped integrate primary health care nurses into the country’s health institutions at both the urban and rural levels. When the project ended, over 200 nurse practitioners and a cadre of new teachers had been trained. USAID rated our Swaziland Manpower Training/Health Services Administration Project as one of the Fifty Best in USAID’s history.


Health Management Study
To support the Government of Turkey's efforts to decentralize its health sector, MSCI was awarded a World Bank funded contract to organize and conduct a study tour program to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Health by expanding the experience base of its health system decision makers and managers. Participants were provided with technical and management training for improving the health sector in 8 provinces of Turkey, with special emphasis on primary health care delivery.

Some of the issues examined by the participants included building and equipping more functional and cost-efficient health facilities; planning and operating human health resources systems; community involvement in the delivery of services; health information systems; and innovative initiatives in health care such as prepaid insurance systems, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), provider operated practices, and community sponsored health systems.


Primary Health Care Training Program
Through World Bank funding, we assisted the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) to improve primary health care delivery by training Polish professionals from the MOHSW and three health consortia on methods for decentralizing services, effectively utilizing resources, and implementing information systems and cost recovery mechanisms. This project involved a study tour in the United States during which the Polish health care experts received intensive briefings on various U.S. health care management systems and practices.

Technical School of Tirana
MSCI was instrumental in establishing a private, non-profit U.S. foundation, The Harry T. Fultz Albanian American Educational Foundation, to assist with educational reform in Albania. The Foundation renewed sponsorship of the American-founded Technical School of Tirana, which had been interrupted since World War II. We worked with the Ministry of Education to assess the management structure, physical facilities, and funding requirements for the
School's renovation. In addition, we designed the School's Business Development Center, a key component of its educational program. The Foundation's work is currently funded by private and public organizations such
as the Soros Foundation, USAID and by individuals.


Technical Health Institute
In this USAID sponsored five-year project, we assisted the Syrian Technical Health Institute to make the transition from a didactic, pedagogic institution to an advanced training facility with state of the art teaching equipment and an updated curriculum. The institutes' educational programs in radiology, prosthetics, pharmacy, and public health were revised and updated.

Modern teaching laboratories were established with the capability to produce training materials in Arabic and seminars for the Arabic speaking health care community.
Syrian health educators were sent to the U.S. to receive intensive technical training in the allied health sciences. At the same time, long-term U.S. training advisors in Syria provided technical assistance in human resource planning and curriculum development.


Medical Equipment Repair Skills Training
Our biomedical engineer was a member of a Pan American Development Foundation evaluation team which conducted an assessment of an USAID-sponsored training course for biomedical equipment instructors in six Central American countries. The evaluation team concluded that in spite of an extremely complicated and problem-laden environment, the local training for the maintenance and repair of biomedical equipment had been a great success.