Wakida Edith K, Rukundo Godfrey Z, Atuhaire Clara, Karungi Christine K, Kumakech Edward, Haberer Jessica E, Talib Zohray M, Obua Celestino
Office of Research Administration, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.
Department of Medical Education, California University of Science and Medicine, San Bernardino, CA, USA.
Adv Med Educ Pract. 2022 Apr 15;13:323-335. doi: 10.2147/AMEP.S359777. eCollection 2022.
To evaluate the perceptions of undergraduates and mentors on the appropriateness, acceptability, and feasibility of a mentored seed-grant (micro-research) by Health Professions Education Partnership Initiative - Transforming Ugandan Institutions Training Against HIV/AIDS (HEPI-TUITAH) program on HIV training in Uganda.
We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive qualitative study with focus groups, on HIV micro-research training, with undergraduate health professions students and faculty mentors across three partner institutions in rural Uganda.
A total of 24 students and 13 mentors (5-8 per group) took part in the focus group discussions. Most participants stated that the HEPI-TUITAH micro-research program was acceptable, appropriate and feasible for health professions undergraduate students. The interprofessional education approach of bringing together students from different programs and years of study was valuable especially for peer mentorship. There was a need to provide for institution-based training in addition to the centrally organized training for the benefit of all the team members. Participants also noted a need for the program to find a way of providing the students with data collection experience even with the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
The HEPI-TUITAH micro-research program was perceived as acceptable, appropriate, and feasible for health professions undergraduate students. It also promoted teamwork and academic collaboration. Provision for institution-based micro-research training activities and data collection experiences for the undergraduate students even during the COVID-19 pandemic would make the program more valuable. The lessons learnt will be applied to future training cohorts to optimize program impact and may be useful for similar programs in other settings.
评估本科学生和导师对健康职业教育伙伴关系倡议 - 转变乌干达机构防治艾滋病毒/艾滋病培训（HEPI-TUITAH）项目在乌干达开展的艾滋病培训中，导师指导下的种子基金（微观研究）的适宜性、可接受性和可行性的看法。
我们在乌干达农村地区的三个合作机构中，对本科健康专业学生和教师导师开展了关于艾滋病微观研究培训的焦点小组横断面描述性定性研究。
共有24名学生和13名导师（每组5 - 8人）参与了焦点小组讨论。大多数参与者表示，HEPI-TUITAH微观研究项目对健康专业本科学生来说是可接受的、适宜的且可行的。将来自不同课程和学习年份的学生聚集在一起的跨专业教育方法很有价值，特别是对于同伴指导。除了为所有团队成员组织集中培训外，还需要提供基于机构的培训。参与者还指出，即使在新冠疫情形势下，该项目也需要找到一种方法为学生提供数据收集经验。
HEPI-TUITAH微观研究项目被认为对健康专业本科学生是可接受的、适宜的且可行的。它还促进了团队合作和学术协作。即使在新冠疫情期间，为本科生提供基于机构的微观研究培训活动和数据收集经验将使该项目更有价值。所吸取的经验教训将应用于未来的培训群体，以优化项目影响，并且可能对其他环境中的类似项目有用。
