New Caucasus PHC Training Centers Train Family Medicine Cadre

New PHC Training Center is Part of Armenia Strategic Plan for Healthcare Delivery Reform

US Ambassador to Armenia John Ordway speaks about the distribution of knowledge as prerequisite to health reform success in the country. To his right are Deputy Health Minister of Armenia Haik Darbinyan; John Peterson, president of the Milwaukee International Health Training Center and US partner; Director of USAID's Mission to the Caucasus Keith Simmons; and Don Harbick, AIHA associate executive director for partnership program. (Photo: Gayane Galstyan)

A new PHC Training Center opened in Lori, Armenia, on November 21, as part of the USAID-funded Armenia Social Transition Program (ASTP), will provide ongoing skills-based and practice-oriented training to primary care physicians and nurses from rural areas of the Lori region. US Mtskheta/Milwaukee partners from the Milwaukee Center for International Health (CIH) helped develop the Center's training modules, which address health priorities in the area. The CIH partners also trained the six healthcare professionals from Vanadzor Policlinic #5 who will serve as the Center's instructors. The renovation and opening of the Center was coordinated by AIHA though a contract with PADCO, implementors of ASTP; the Center's development will be continued under AIHA's new Lori/ Milwaukee partnership.

This Center is the result of collaborative efforts between the ASTP, the Armenian Ministry of Health (MOH), the Lori Health and Social Security Administration, Milwaukee CIH, and Vanadzor Policlinic #5. Their goal—to promote family practice skills among primary care providers in Armenia—is part of the current healthcare reform strategy being implemented by the Armenian MOH, which emphasizes family practice training as a means to improving the quality of medical care delivery and the health status of the population.

The modular curriculum taught at the Center represents a methodological innovation in teaching family medicine skills to healthcare providers. The curriculum has been coordinated with the national system of healthcare education and will serve as a training model for family physicians.

Physicians and nurses from rural areas of the Lori region partake in the family practice training at the new Training Center. (Photo: Gayane Galstyan)

"This Center's approach is a starting point for educational reform in healthcare," said Haik Darbinyan, deputy minister of health of Armenia at the opening ceremony. In his opinion, the training program introduced by AIHA partners has the advantage of blending practical skills with theoretical knowledge, which makes the training "efficient, not only for potential trainees, but also for their patients."

According to the Ministry's strategic plan, three more PHC training centers will open in the near future. In the meantime, Darbinyan expressed his hopes that the newly established Center will prepare qualified specialists in the Lori region and will serve as a training base for primary healthcare providers from neighboring areas. "We hope that this valuable experience will be disseminated throughout the Republic of Armenia, and that the Lori Health Center serves as a model for primary healthcare education in the country," underscored Darbinyan.

US Ambassador to Armenia, John Ordway, supports Minister Darbinyan's vision of the future. After the opening ceremony, during an interview with media representatives, Ordway emphasized the importance of enhancing the family practice skills of rural doctors and involving them in the dissemination of the techniques they learn at the Center. Ordway said that he hoped the groundwork laid by the partners would allow the Armenians to "continue the [training of medical workers] at their own speed and on their own."

Mtskheta Family Medicine Center Opens Doors for Training and Treatment

Another significant event in November was the opening of the Family Medicine and Regional Training Center (FMRTC) in Mtskheta, Georgia on November 23, 2003. The Center, opened under the auspices of the Mtskheta/Milwaukee partnership, will consolidate family practice services in the area and serve as a continuing education and training site for local, primary healthcare providers.

US Ambassador to Georgia (far right) Richard Miles listens to USAID's Head of Humanitarian and Social Transition Office for the Caucasus Kent Larson's remarks, at the opening ceremony in Mtskheta. (Photo: Zaza Varsimashvili)

A group of licensed family medicine physicians and nurses will use their expertise, as well as insights gained through the partnership's numerous exchanges, to train other healthcare providers in community-oriented, family medicine as a way to ensure the sustainable improvement of healthcare delivery in the Mtskheta region.

To construct the new FMRTC, the Milwaukee partners secured a sizable private donation of $100,000 from the US-based Meehan Family Foundation. The Georgian Social Investment Fund and PA Consulting Group became co-financers of the project, along with the city administration, which provided the land for the facility and $15,000 to complete the project. In addition, the city will provide the Center with funding that will allow a significant portion of the Center's services to be provided for free.

Besides their contributions to the establishment of the FMRTC, the Mtskheta/Milwaukee partnership has sponsored a number of community-based PHC projects in the nearby highland communities of Akhalgori, Dusheti, Kazbegi, and Tianeti. Through these projects, donations of medical equipment and relevant training were given to local primary healthcare clinics, allowing staff to provide their patients with better care.

AIHA plans to introduce two additional primary care partnerships in the Guria and Shida Kartli regions of Georgia to develop broad-based, community-oriented PHC services models to be replicated throughout the country.

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