Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine
Ethiopia is facing the double challenge of high mortality due to infectious diseases as well as an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes) including higher numbers of traumatic injuries and complicated obstetric and gynecologic emergencies, expected to rise because of increasing urbanization and industrialization.
The specialty of critical care, fundamental in developed hospital systems, for the care of seriously ill patients, is at an early stage in Ethiopia, although the demand and necessity for it is growing. Recently, the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health provided substantial funding for the creation of intensive care units (ICUs). However, although the availability of ICU beds has increased, the lack of trained personnel in critical care medicine represents a crucial limitation to patient care and service development. The leadership and faculty at Addis Ababa University and its affiliated Tukur Anbessa Specialized Hospital are committed to collaborating and promoting the education of future critical care leaders in Ethiopia
In 2018, The Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration (TAAAC-CC) started to deliver a curriculum developed for Ethiopia’s first postgraduate fellowship program in Critical Care Medicine. One fellow is currently completing the program, with two more expected to start in 2022. Careful resource management, multidisciplinary collaboration, and up-to-date knowledge are the main priorities for these fellows, who care for complex medical and surgical patients. Three groups of faculty from University of Toronto travel to Addis to teach, supervise, and mentor in this program annually. Activities in the first year included formal and bedside clinical teaching, ultrasound teaching, and simulation sessions. The curriculum objectives are also delivered longitudinally via teleconferences throughout the year.
If inspired or interested to teach on one of these trips, please contact on of the program leads.
Program leads
Alberto Goffi
alberto.goffi@unityhealth.to
Neill Adhikari
neill.adhikari@sunnybrook.ca