Kolabo 2025: Day Six & Seven Blog

KARIBU to DR. WATTERSON and Dr. SELLMER

Dr. Watterson and Dr. Sellmer have arrived! They are joining the Kolabo Team for the second week in Tanzania. The day began with Clinical Meeting and Ward Rounds, followed by a tour of CUHAS and Bugando. Our team had the privilege of meeting some of the individuals who have worked behind the scenes to support CUHAS medical students for many years, including Oliver Bondo – the school’s librarian for over 23 years. We learned that medical students have access to over 100 physical psychiatry textbooks, in addition to a number of virtual textbooks and research-related resources. And that he was there to help Dr. Mwita throughout his training!

CELEBRATING the CUHAS – UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY PARTNERSHIP

The University of Calgary team had the opportunity to present a plaque to the CUHAS psychiatry team in celebration of the Kolabo partnership, which began in 2015. The Kolabo partnership has supported the funding of CUHAS psychiatry staff, including Dr. Mwita, Dr. Catherine, and Dr. Rahel, who are now an integral part of delivering the Undergraduate Medical Education curriculum to CUHAS medical students.  We were able to capture the moment that Dr. Catherine and Dr. Mwita accepted the plaque formally from Dr. Watterson and Dr. Sellmer!

COLLABORATIVE POST-GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCTION (PGME) TEACHING BEGINS!

To start off the formal portion of week two, Dr. Mwita provided an overview of the Kolabo program over the years and the expectations of a residency program in the Tanzanian context.For those who don’t know, medical students in Tanzania complete 5 years of education and clinical work, followed by 1 year of internship to become a General Practitioner. Additional specialty training is considered a “Masters” program and is traditionally 3 years of combined clinical, academic, and research work. The CUHAS and University of Calgary teams shared ideas about the similarities and differences between our programs as Dr. Sellmer presented the logistics of the University of Calgary’s psychiatry residency program. The following day, Dr. Sellmer reviewed the University of Calgary approach to residency evaluations and we heard more about the vision for the CUHAS psychiatry residency program – more to come!