Kolabo 2025: Day Five Blog

kwaheri to the Kolabo 2025 Residents 👋

We began the day with the Clinical Meeting, followed by Ward Rounds. The students’ continued progress was clearly fueled by the dedication of their clinical educators, who consistently offered guidance and a healthy level of challenge to help them reach the next level. For example, Dr. Mwita supported students in conducting patient interviews in front of the group. He demonstrated how to skillfully assess whether a patient’s beliefs reflect true delusional intensity, and shared valuable insights on recognizing pseudo or micro-psychotic phenomena.

Year Four CUHAS Medical Students (~40) and Internal Medicine residents (8) currently on their Psychiatry rotation, alongside Dr. Mwita and Calgary residents (Sana and Taelina)

James, Year Four Medical Students Class Representative

Day five marked the final day in Mwanza for Psychiatry residents Sana and Taelina. As we wrapped up the week, we were touched by the warm farewells from the medical students, whose comfort and engagement with us had clearly grown over the course of our time together.

Psychotherapy Lecture 🛋️

In the afternoon, Dr. Paige Durling led an insightful session on psychotherapy, tailored for the CUHAS Psychiatry faculty. The discussion explored differences in training models and psychotherapy delivery between Canada and Tanzania — highlighting, for instance, that group therapy is not commonly practiced in Mwanza at this time.

Addictions Lecture 🍃

Dr. Paige Durling also led an engaging session on Addictions, with a focus on Motivational Interviewing and the spectrum of substance use disorders. The group explored the substances most commonly encountered in both Canada and Tanzania, noting a shared concern around the high prevalence of alcohol and nicotine use disorders in both contexts.

Reflecting on the Week 💭

As the first week of Kolabo 2025 comes to a close, we are grateful for the connections, shared learning, and collaborative spirit we've experienced.

Next week, our focus will shift more toward Postgraduate Medical Education, including collaborative efforts to support the development of a psychiatry residency program at CUHAS — an exciting next step in this long-standing partnership.