Family Medicine

In the stark contrast between healthcare in Malawi and Ireland, one statistic stands out: Malawi has only 625 doctors for its 22 million people, whereas Ireland boasts 17,850 doctors for 5 million people. For most Malawians, access to a doctor from birth to death remains a distant dream.

Clinical officers are key to providing healthcare in Malawi. A Clinical Officer (CO) is a mid-level healthcare practitioner who plays a crucial role in the healthcare system, particularly in rural and underserved areas where there is a significant shortage of doctors. Clinical Officers are trained to provide a range of medical services, including diagnosis, treatment, and management of common and emergency health conditions across various medical specialties. Clinical Officers in Malawi typically undergo a training program that lasts about three years, which includes both theoretical instruction and practical clinical experience

To bring quality health care closer to the people of Malawi and meet the full potential of primary care there is the need to develop a new cadre of Clinical Officers in Family Medicine (COFM). COFM will provide health maintenance/promotion, disease prevention, basic medical, surgical, paediatric, obstetric and gynaecological care within the community. The programme although based in Northern Malawi has the potential to be developed across Malawi and indeed is of relevance for many countries in Sub Saharan Africa. gHealth Research workign with the Gorey Malawi Health Partnership and University of Livingstonia have been developing this programme. In September 2023 a workshop was held in University College Dublin to discuss the formation of BSc in Family Medicine for Clinical Officer and a BSc in Family Pharmacy for Pharmacy Technicians in Malawi in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin.

This led to a strategic plan for these courses and in March 2024 had a number of key meetings and trainings to progress this with the generous support of donors to the UCD Foundation.

A particular feature of this programme is that it will be part time programme allowing trainees to remain in their current work and community. Training will be delivered through e-learning with four one week blocks each year for practical training. It is intended that they will have an assigned Malawian and Irish mentor who will meet with them in person or online every two weeks to assess progress and develop skills. By providing training to those who continue to work and mostly online it means that communities will not be deprived of a health worker during training and it will be financially viable for more clinical officers to participate in this programme. It will also allow clinical officers who may have family commitments and thereby unable to move to large urban centres to undertake this course.

A needs assessment was undertaken by the University of Livingstonia in March 2023 involving 71 academics, policy makers and clinical officers in Malawi. 87% felt the role of COFM was very relevant or relevant to the Malawian context and 99% felt a clinical officer was the best cadre of clinician for this role. 87% felt the online and part time nature of the course was important for retention of staff in post and 96% felt that the partnership between Malawi and Ireland was important in developing the course. The course will have a particular focus on developing the future trainers and leaders for Family Medicine in Malawi.

In 2025 we will continue to develop this programme and training materials and seek accreditation from the Ministry of Education in Malawi and the Medical Council of Malawi.