Inter-country training on evaluation of IMCI pre-service education, Mansoura, Egypt

The three-day training brought together 15 participants from 5 countries in the Region (Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Morocco, Pakistan and Sudan), including senior professors of paediatrics from 7 universities, staff from ministries of health and WHO country offices. Based on the Guide on the Evaluation of IMCI Pre-service Education developed by the Regional Office, it aimed to build capacity in the Region in evaluating IMCI pre-service education. The number of teaching institutions in the Region which have introduced IMCI into their teaching programmes, especially paediatrics, has been increasing over the years, raising the need to evaluate the teaching process and student outcomes in these institutions. The training methodology included presentations, video-demonstrations, group discussions and much practice in using the evaluation qualitative and quantitative instruments, from interviews to focus group discussions, visits to teaching sites, MCQ tests and observation of case management, and computerized data entry and analysis. The topics covered ranged from developing the evaluation schedule to assessing the supportive environment at national and institutional level, from assessing the teaching process and methodology to assessing teaching staff and student attitudes, student knowledge and skills, from entering data and analyzing the results to presenting the findings. Training was followed by an evaluation of the teaching programme at the paediatric department of Mansoura University, Egypt, which served as further training to practise and reinforce the newly acquired evaluation skills.