Training African Pathologists in Cancer Staging

Training African Pathologists in Cancer Diagnosis and Staging (TAPCD)

As we reported in our last report, the Training African Pathologists in Cancer Diagnosis (TAPCD) workshop, held November 16th-18th, 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya and in conjunction with Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi (AKUHN), is being followed by an elearning course developed by course faculty members. The development effort is being led by Dr. Susan Lester of the Department of Pathology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. The course is now nearing the end of the testing, with completion scheduled for mid-September.

The elearning course builds on our experience with the in-person training courses held in Nairobi, Kenya over the past few years. It is not possible to provide in-person training for every pathologist in sub-Saharan Africa due to the cost and the simple fact that it isn’t possible for most health care workers there to get the time off needed for in-person training. The elearning course is one potential way to provide training on a more widespread basis. We will provide an update on the course in our next report to Global Giving.

As previously noted, for future activities related to this project, we continue to explore two options: one is a follow-up course in the Eastern, Central, and Southern part of sub-Saharan Africa and the other in the Francophone region of Africa. In order to leverage resources we continue to explore partnerships with other organizations, including the College of Pathologists of East, South, and Central Africa (COPECSA) and Aga Khan University, Nairobi.

We thank you all for your continued support and will continue to provide updates as this project proceeds!