The goal of the Zimbabwe ICT Program (ZIP) proposal is to improve the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) infrastructure and to provide capacity training for a cadre of ICT professionals to sustain and enhance programs within the College of Health Sciences at the University of Zimbabwe (UZCHS) and the Biomedical Research & Training Institute (BRTI). The program is a collaboration between the Stanford University Medical Center, the UZCHS and the BRTI to improve capacity in health training-related ICT methods to enable the implementation, evaluation and sustainability of new technologies for on-line e-learning. This will be achieved through in-house training for personnel of the Audio-Visual Training Unit (AVTU), the Research Support Centre (RSC), Institute for Continuing Health Education (ICHE), the Department of Health Professions Education (DHPE) and Biomedical Research & Training Institute (BRTI). The proposed program will provide for development of and access to on-line e-learning, survey and assessment tools for medical and allied health sciences faculty, graduate and post graduate student education and research programs. We will support the development of career paths for 3 ICT professionals at UZCHS and BRTI through relevant on-line postgraduate education resources.. Staff will be expected to continue to contribute to development of e- learning resources while receiving training from on-line university courses. ZIP will provide funding for internships for ICT students so they can gain practical in-service experience in networking and network administration, programming for android tablets, and support the implementation of learning management systems under the supervision of ICT staff. A period of attachment is an integral part of the coursework program in ICT at universities and colleges in Zimbabwe, and we propose 12 internships for 10-month rotational attachments to UZCHS and BRTI. Support for health-related research through training in ICT systems for digital data management will include workshops and training in new ICT solutions for data capture (such as through the use of hand-held data capture instruments), data storage (using both land-based and cloud technologies) and for management of complex measurements and records. This training would be offered to students, interested academic and postgraduate researchers as well as to ICT staff. All of the proposed interns would be expected to attend these courses.
Modern biomedical research, training, public health institutions and health service providers increasingly use ICT to inform clinicians, researchers, policy makers, patients and the public. The operation of the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences/Medical School as an effective research and training institution depends on locally trained ICT professionals who can maintain and enhance the infrastructure needed for successful student and faculty research. The PI and Stanford University faculty and staff are committed to the improvement of health care and the enrichment of medical and scientific training by enhancing the ICT environment in Zimbabwe.
| Chimukangara, Benjamin; Varyani, Bhavini; Shamu, Tinei et al. (2017) HIV drug resistance testing among patients failing second line antiretroviral therapy. Comparison of in-house and commercial sequencing. J Virol Methods 243:151-157 |
