Zerihun Wolde Gebremichael Leads Two-Day Workshop at Hawassa University

Zerihun Wolde Gebremichael, M.D., M.Sc.
Head, Academic Programs and Quality Assurance Office
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
College of Medicine and Health Sciences
Hawassa University
Hawassa, Ethiopia

SAFRI 2012 Fellow Zerihun Wolde Gebremichael organized and led a workshop aimed at establishing a medical education department at Hawassa University in Hawassa, Ethiopia, from June 18-19, 2012. Dr. Gebremichael invited fellow Ethiopian FAIMER Fellows Solomon Worku Beza (PHIL 2010), Project Manager, Continuing Medical Education at Jhpiego Ethiopia and Adjunct Professor at Jimma University, and Tegbar Yigzaw Sendekie (PHIL 2009), Deputy Director, USAID Strengthening Human Resources for Health Project at Jhpiego Ethiopia and Adjunct Professor at Gondar College of Medical Sciences to help facilitate the workshop. Presentations and group activities explored how the department might be organized, what functions it should assume, and possible areas of educational research. A total of 40 Hawassa University faculty members attended the workshop, and feedback from the administration has been positive. Following the workshop, faculty members developed research proposals on medical education, which will be funded on a competitive basis.

This workshop is, as FAIMER faculty member Di Manning (PHIL 2008) states, “A fantastic example of collaborative work between Fellows in the same country from different FAIMER Institutes.”