LUBAGA HOSPITAL AS A TRAINING INSTITUTION
The Hospital as a training institution creates opportunities for acquiring and transferring knowledge by its staff and students, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights. The Education and Training Committee of the Hospital oversees all the trainings.
The staff of the Hospital are encouraged to further their education so as to attain higher qualifications and they are continuously provided with Continuous Medical Education opportunities (CMEs). Exchange visit programs are also done with institutions locally and internationally for the same reason.
Training of non-staff on the other hand is enabled for students and qualified personnel (graduates). The students undergo industrial training or field attachments while graduates undergo internships. The students’ coordination office handles industrial training or field attachments while the related departments organize internships.
Industrial training or field attachments are scheduled for Internal and External students by the Students’ Coordination office of the Hospital. Mentoring of these students is done by the Deputy Unit Heads together with the supervisors from institutions which offer the main course of study.
Intern students are received and guided by the related departments: Intern Doctors are followed-up by the Medical Director while the Principal Nursing Officer handles the Intern Nurses.
Internal students
These follow courses offered by its school, St. Michael Lubaga Hospital training school where it trains: nurses, midwives, laboratory and theatre assistants and technicians. The school has been in existence for more than sixty (60) years.
Industrial Training/Field attachments of Internal Students happens very frequently and for some courses, the students are full time in the Hospital. For example: Laboratory and Theater Assistants students.
External students
Medical and Non-medical students from institutions in Uganda and outside Uganda come for Industrial training or field attachment because it is an essential part of a student’s academic program. An attachment lasts one or two months and is conducted once or twice during the course of their study.
Requests by external students are received by the Students’ Coordination Office 30 days before the first day of placement to allow for logistic arrangements.
Graduates/Interns
Graduates are introduced to the Hospital by the professional bodies. For example: Medical Doctors and Nurses are posted to the Hospital by the Ministry of Health (MoH) for a period of one academic year; Qualified nurses and midwives trained abroad or those who need to enhance their skills are referred to the Hospital by the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council for attachment periods of three months; etc.
The term used for such placements is “Internship”, and it is mandatory for health workers before they are certified to handle patients in the country.
The Medical Director’s office manages the training of intern doctors while the Principal Nursing Oficer’s Office (PNO’s office) oversees the training of nurses.