title: Medical education departments: a study of four medical schools in Sub-Saharan Africa.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many African countries are investing in medical education to address significant health care workforce shortages and ultimately improve health care. Increasingly, training institutions are establishing medical education departments as part of this investment. This article describes the status of four such departments at sub-Saharan African medical schools supported by the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI). This article will provide information about the role of these institutional structures in fostering the development of medical education within the African context and highlight factors that enable or constrain their establishment and sustainability.
  
  
  METHODS
  In-depth interviews were conducted with the heads or directors of the four medical education departments using a structured interview protocol developed by the study group. An inductive approach to analysis of the interview transcripts was adopted as the texts were subjected to thematic content analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Medical education departments, also known as units or centers, were established for a range of reasons including: to support curriculum review, to provide faculty development in Health Professions Education, and to improve scholarship in learning and teaching. The reporting structures of these departments differ in terms of composition and staff numbers. Though the functions of departments do vary, all focus on improving the quality of health professions education. External and internal funding, where available, as well as educational innovations were key enablers for these departments. Challenges included establishing and maintaining the legitimacy of the department, staffing the departments with qualified individuals, and navigating dependence on external funding. All departments seek to expand the scope of their services by offering higher degrees in HPE, providing assistance to other universities in this domain, and developing and maintaining a medical education research agenda.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The establishment of medical education departments in Sub-Saharan Africa is a strategy medical schools can employ to improve the quality of health professions education. The creation of communities of practice such as has been done by the MEPI project is a good way to expand the network of medical education departments in the region enabling the sharing of lessons learned across the continent.
authors.affiliation: The MEPI Coordinating Centre at the African Centre for Global Health and Social Transformation, Kampala, Uganda. kigulimalwadde@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Elsie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kiguli-Malwadde
authors.affiliation: MEPI Coordinating Center in the Department of Health Policy at the George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. zmtalib@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Zohray M
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Talib
authors.affiliation: MEPI Coordinating Center in the Department of Health Policy at the George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. hannahmmw@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wohltjen
authors.affiliation: School of Education and Human Development, University of Colorado, Denver, USA. Susan.Connors@ucdenver.edu.
authors.forename: Susan C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Connors
authors.affiliation: College of Health Sciences, University of Health Sciences, Harare, Zimbabwe. jgandari@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gandari
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Education Development, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia. ssbanda2007@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sekelani S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Banda
authors.affiliation: Lane Medical Library, Stanford University, Stanford, USA. lmaggio@standford.edu.
authors.forename: Lauren A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Maggio
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Professions Education, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, PO Box 241, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa. scvs@sun.ac.za.
authors.forename: Susan C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: van Schalkwyk
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D057191:Capacity Building / Q000379:methods; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D007393:International Educational Exchange; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires