Teaching and training programs are an important tool for skills transfer and delivery of ophthalmic education and training. Teaching and training programs should be viewed as a component of a cyclical method of skills / knowledge transfer which must be continuous, include course correction of identified deficiencies, and focus on the achievement of overarching desired outcome(s).
Teaching & Training
Our long-term teaching and training programs form the backbone of our work. By sharing skills with local eye teams we can improve the quality of eye care available for generations to come. Our comprehensive and sustainable programs include online courses, simulation training and hands on training from some of the best eye care workers in the world.
Vietnam faces a significant shortage of qualified eye care professionals at all levels, so improving the skills - particularly for sub-specialty like pediatric eye care - we can begin to tackle some of the major issues facing the country.
Why We Concern?
How We Approach?
Overall, Teaching and Training programs should focus on building human and institutional capacity. It is meaning that each Teaching and Training program should aim to improve quality of patient care while providing the necessary skill transfer, meanwhile:
- Teaching and training program planning activities should be deliberate, strategic and coordinated, not merely a reactionary response to an identified need. Therefore, teaching and training programs should be developed as a component of strategically aligned multi-year projects (where a multi-year project plan exists). At the beginning of each teaching and training program, partners should be designated, appropriate trainees identified, and pre- and post- teaching and training evaluations taken into account.
Focus on volunteering: Dr Luu, Vietnam, Pediatric anaesthetist
Dr Luu was trained by Orbis volunteer, Dr Choyce and become an Orbis volunteer herself.
- Long and short-term implications of each teaching and training program should be assessed. Considerations such as procurement and budget for required equipment, instrumentation, and/or consumables need to be taken into consideration to support the continuity and sustainability of the desired training.
- Teaching and training programs should not be viewed as a “stand-alone” tool for skills / knowledge transfer. Ideally, each teaching and training program should be one of several components of a long-term strategy for capacity building which requires further reinforcement and follow-up activity.
What We Have Done in Vietnam
We began collaborating with Vietnam’s ophthalmic communities through hospital-based projects in 1996. So far, the trainings have been successfully in the provinces of Binh Dinh, Can Tho, and Thua Thien – Hue.
What We Will Do
Orbis will plan teaching and training programs as part of our multi-year project plans. Teaching and training programs shall be a part of a larger training strategy contained in all Orbis project documentations. Multiple Teaching and training programs are to take place during a project life, so each teaching and training program must contribute to the logical progression of capacity building at partner sites to achieve the project-related objectives and address the local eye care challenges.
For each teaching and training program, one or more subspecialties are selected to form the core of the ophthalmic training. The ophthalmology subspecialty training form is a planning tool, which allows the program manager to plan and develop each teaching and training program by capturing detailed information in the following important areas:
- Key background data on the subspecialty chosen for the teaching and training program;
- Level of training and program required;
- Detailed training plans for the subspecialty;
- Outline specific volunteer faculty needs and requests.
