What We Do · Train Professionals
Training Health Professionals in Africa & Asia
At Global Heartcare Foundation, we know that the only way to reach and treat millions of patients with heart disease in Africa is to develop expertise in local health care providers.
For children and young adults requiring specialized care, we work and develop local Cardiac Centers to train Cardiac specialists. We also help health professionals working in primary care to develop innovative, cost effective ways to diagnose heart disease in children and young adults.
Making Healers: Global Heart Care Program
Medical mission trips are not enough. The Global Heartcare Foundation is dedicated to helping our partners grow their own medical personnel through training to create sustainable, longterm outcomes.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia with a population of over 125 million has made strides in developing its primary care system. However, specialized centers for cardiac training are limited. Since 2010, we have collaborated with partners in Ethiopia, including the Cardiac Center of Ethiopia, Children’s Heart Fund of Ethiopia, and the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health.
To address the need we trained the first 12 person cardiac team in Bangalore, India, at Narayana Health and Cardiac Institute. This intensive training at a high-volume surgical center enabled the Ethiopian team to treat children and young adults with congenital and rheumatic heart disease. In June 2017, the team successfully performed their first cardiac surgery in Addis Ababa, paving the way for long-term care for thousands of Ethiopian children.
Rheumatic Heart Disease Training Center
The RHD Training Center of Excellence was launched in 2020 with support from the Global Heartcare Foundation. It aims to establish a standard of care for patients with RHD in Ethiopia and East Africa. The center provides training for healthcare professionals, research mentorship, and serves as a national representative for external collaborators. The center has trained 75 nurses and 12 Physicians from remote regions on basic echocardiography for early diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease.
Additionally, 150 health professionals received ongoing training in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health.
Tanzania
With a population of 61 million people, Tanzania has limited facilities to treat patients with cardiovascular diseases.
As part of our partnership with Kilimanjaro Medical Center (KCMC), a referral hospital for 15 million people in Northern Tanzania, we are currently supporting four physicians from KCMC in advanced Cardiac Training:
2 cardiologists
1 cardiac surgeon
1 cardiac anesthesiologist
2 critical care specialists
We have supported training of four nurses from KCMC to participate in a two-year advanced critical care training. They completed their training in 2022 at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences School in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Three additional nurses have started similar training and are expected to finish in August 2024.
India
Our foundation in collaboration with Narayana Health, India, supporting a virtual educational seminar in Echocardiography and Critical Care. In addition, we plan to launch a The Global Virtual Heartcare University to include educational events in all areas of cardiac care.
Uganda
El-Shadai Cardiovascular hospital, Luweero, Uganda is in urgent need to train a full time Perfusionist. This will enable the hospital to provide Cardiac Surgery to more patients. Our foundation is training a perfusionist in India starting this year.
