The department of Community health Mbarara University of science and technology, is involved student training, research and community engagement in the southwestern region of Uganda. The DoCH has had recognized success in medical education; especially training future doctors with community sensitivity who desire to work in rural areas and providing technical support to national and district health programmes. The DoCH has extensive ‘reach’ at the community level across southwestern Uganda and is actively involved in community-based health programming within local communities in the region. The department has over two decades of experience and demonstrated expertise in local health programming and health service monitoring and evaluation. Since 1992 the DoCH has engaged local communities through partnerships with community health workers at the village level across the region. The Department has over this time emphasized participatory, community-based projects and employs science-based approaches to monitoring and evaluation of community level interventions. This has led to longstanding collaboration with multiple communities in the districts of Mbarara, Bushenyi, Kasese, Rubirizi, Shema, Mitooma, Isingiro, Kasese, Kiruhura,... Show more
The department of Community health Mbarara University of science and technology, is involved student training, research and community engagement in the southwestern region of Uganda. The DoCH has had recognized success in medical education; especially training future doctors with community sensitivity who desire to work in rural areas and providing technical support to national and district health programmes. The DoCH has extensive ‘reach’ at the community level across southwestern Uganda and is actively involved in community-based health programming within local communities in the region. The department has over two decades of experience and demonstrated expertise in local health programming and health service monitoring and evaluation. Since 1992 the DoCH has engaged local communities through partnerships with community health workers at the village level across the region. The Department has over this time emphasized participatory, community-based projects and employs science-based approaches to monitoring and evaluation of community level interventions. This has led to longstanding collaboration with multiple communities in the districts of Mbarara, Bushenyi, Kasese, Rubirizi, Shema, Mitooma, Isingiro, Kasese, Kiruhura, Kabarole, Ibanda and Sembabule. The communities have benefited from the implementation of different community based programs such as the Community Based Education (CBE) Program (CBHC) and Bugoye Integrated Community Case Management Intiative (BIMI). BIMI is a collaborative initiative between the DoCH, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Global health (CGH), Kasese District Local Government and Bugoye Health Centre III (BHC). Through, the BIMI program the Department has trained and supported (supplies and quality assurance) community health workers (also known as Village Health Teams – VHTs). The VHTs have since 2013 provided clinical care to children less than five year old within their respective villages for fever (malaria), diarrhea and pneumonia. The department has had/has collaborations with a number of organizations that include: Ministry of Health, District Local Governments, World Health Organization, Massachusetts General Hospital, University of North Carolina, among others. The DoCH is currently led by Dr. Edgar Mulogo who has been conducting community-based research in the Kasese District for nearly twenty years.
Our Vision
We aspire to be a regional centre of excellence in public health training, research and knowledge and skills transfer.
Mission
Through excellence in training, research and knowledge and skills transfer seeks to equitably promote national and global health.
Our core values
Excellence: Pledge to achieve excellence in training, mentorship, scientific inquiry research and knowledge transfer to communities and populations.
Commitment: To achieving the vision and mission of the School.
Integrity: A commitment to the highest standards of efficiency and effectiveness through training, supervision and role modeling.
Team work: Through participatory decision making
Accountability: Through transparency
Staff and skills
Currently the Department of Community Health has 8 full time members of Academic staff. Five (5) of the staff hold PhDs with expertise in; Epidemiology, Policy and Management, Reproductive health and health promotion. Two (2) of the 8 staff are currently enrolled on PhD programs and have expertise in Biostatistics and Reproductive, Child Health and Nutrition. The last full time member of staff who is enrolling for a PhD candidate has expertise in environmental health. The department has 4 part time academic staff (1 PhD holder and expert in medical anthropology and social aspects of health, 3 with Masters in public health with expertise in Occupational health, Research methods and health planning and management). The full and part time staff will form the core team for School that will also be able to draw on expertise from MUST Institutes’ of Interdisciplinary Training (IITR) and Computer Science (ICS). It is expected that further expertise will be provided through partnership and involvement of professionals working with the International collaborators, Ministry of Health, Local Governments, International co and projects within the region. The School aims at recruiting and training teaching assistants (5) from the DoCH’s in house MPH program, to support each department in the School. Further existing staff will be trained to the level of PhD were this required.
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