October 1, 2020 — The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) has announced that Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) in Tanzania will be the host location of a new Global Learning Center (GLC).
Funded by a $750,000 grant by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the GLC will help address the growing need in Sub-Saharan Africa for training in radiology.
“The RSNA Global Learning Center will help to provide education to a vast number of radiologists in the country and nearby regions,” said Dr. Balowa Musa, lecturer and radiologist at MUHAS.
By partnering with established radiology departments based in low- or middle-income countries to create the learning centers, RSNA aims to improve radiology education and patient care around the world. The inaugural RSNA GLC launched earlier this year at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa.
The MUHAS Radiology and Imaging Department is the only university department in the country providing a Master of Radiology residency program. Hosting the GLC will help the department provide a comprehensive radiology education program, ultimately improving the level of radiologic practice and patient care throughout the region.
“RSNA is proud to be working with Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences to bring a Global Learning Center to Tanzania,” said Umar Mahmood, M.D., Ph.D., RSNA Board Liaison for International Affairs. “We look forward to developing a robust, comprehensive curriculum for the MUHAS GLC that will offer a unique radiology education program addressing the needs of this region.”
Now that the host site has been selected, over a three-year period a team of RSNA members will work with the GLC to develop a customized educational plan, including a curriculum with hands-on training, didactic lectures, conferences, online courses and other education offerings. Equipment and technical assistance will also be provided based on the needs of the institution. The MUHAS GLC program will focus on interventional radiology, neuroradiology, pediatric radiology and female imaging over the course of three years.
RSNA team members will travel to the GLC to learn about the site’s educational needs, present lectures, hands‐on training, and point‐of‐care opportunities. The RSNA team, in close consultation with the local team, will design and present an educational plan, customized to the needs of the GLC, using RSNA educational resources.
The three-year NNSA grant, along with a similar grant awarded to the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, serves as a small portion of the overall U.S. contribution as part of Article IV of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, designed to facilitate access to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including for medical purposes.
“The NNSA grant award dedicated to establishing an RSNA Global Learning Center in Sub-Saharan Africa could not have come at a better time, as RSNA is implementing its newly innovated GLC program in low-income countries, many of which are in this region,” said Omolola M. Atalabi, M.B.B.S., chair of the GLC subcommittee of RSNA’s Committee on International Radiology Education (CIRE). “This award will go a long way in providing much needed assistance to many radiologists in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
For more information: www.rsna.org
