PC2108: Ensuring Continuity of Health Professionals Training Amidst a Global Pandemic: Lessons from the Uganda Safe Schools Initiative

Purpose/Objectives: Uganda experienced two distinct waves of Covid-19 which significantly challenged health professional education (HPE). Universities closed in March 2020, without options for online learning or clinical training. Cognizant of the threat to quality education and the pool of frontline workers, the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) and Seed Global Health partnered to examine the risks and benefits of health professional school reopening. The outcome was the Safe Schools Initiative (SSI), a national roadmap to safely resume HPE.

Design/Methods: The SSI used a combination of approaches for data collection including consultative meetings, surveys, literature review, and stakeholder engagements. The SSI focused on all health professional programs with a mandatory internship and therefore critical to the frontline workforce. Key stakeholders included academia, professional associations, and government agencies (Table 1). A national study (ASHPECC) was commissioned to assess the level of institutional readiness prior to reopening. Recommendations were submitted for review by the President of Uganda.

Results: The primary outcome of the SSI was the safe reopening of health professional training institutions across Uganda despite national school closures.

During the first wave in July 2020, guidelines were developed around the appropriate environment and systems required for safe reopening including student welfare and protection, exposure and testing protocols, learning environments, and core competency requirements. Standard Operating Protocols were issued as a precursor to the reopening of any health training facility during the pandemic. A consensus emerged which recommended in-person learning for final year students, and online learning for junior years. The recommendations resulted in health professional schools being the first educational institutions to reopen in the country in October 2020.

During the second wave, schools closed again. Literature and quantitative data were available to inform decision-making in addition to expert consensus. The ASHPECC study assessed 15 Ugandan health professional training institutions from February through June 2021 and demonstrated readiness of health professional students (94.24%, n= 1609) and faculty (73%, n=188) to resume learning. Literature review highlighted a strong student preference for in-person education in Uganda during the pandemic. Stakeholder meetings confirmed buy-in from students and teaching institutions for school reopening. The NCHE recommended immediate phased reopening for students in clinical years, blended learning for non-clinical years, and prioritizing HPE in future lockdowns. Key considerations for these recommendations included access to PPE, vaccinations for students and instructors, and rapid antigen testing for symptomatic individuals. Health professional schools reopened in July 2021, within a month of closure.

Conclusion/Discussion: Pandemic response depends on quality training for health professional students and continuity of a frontline workforce. National advocacy for HPE can be effective when engaging key stakeholders to build consensus around difficult decisions when data is evolving. Future pandemic preparedness must include prioritization of HPE.