Reflections on the first twenty-five years of the University of Malawi College of Medicine

Muula, Adamson S; Mulwafu, Wakisa; Chiweza, Diston; Mataya, Ronald

doi:10.4314/mmj.v28i3.2

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The history of the University of Malawi's College of Medicine (CoM) has been well-documented9,10. Before Malawi — formerly known as Nyasaland — was created in 1963, its medical students had mainly been going to the well-established medical schools in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).…”

Section: College Of Medicine University Of Malawimentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening human resources for health in resource-limited countries: The case of Medic to Medic in Malawi

Bickton

2019

Mal. Med. J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: College Of Medicine University Of Malawimentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening human resources for health in resource-limited countries: The case of Medic to Medic in Malawi

Bickton

2019

Mal. Med. J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The medical competence of health care providers in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from 16 127 providers across 11 countries

Daniels,

Yi Chang,

Gatti

et al. 2024

Health Affairs Scholar

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite a consensus that quality of care is critically deficient in low-income countries, few nationally representative studies provide comparable measures of quality of care across countries. To address this gap, we used nationally representative data from in-person administrations of clinical vignettes to measure the competence of 16 127 health care providers across 11 sub-Saharan African countries. Rather than large variations across countries, we found that 81% of the variation in competence is within countries and the characteristics of health care providers do not explain most of this variation. Professional qualifications—including cadre and education—are only weakly associated with competence: across our sample, one-third of nurses are more competent than the average doctor in the same country and one-quarter of doctors are less competent than the average nurse. Finally, while younger cohorts do tend to be more competent, perhaps reflecting improvements in medical education, it would take 25 decades of turnover to improve care by 10 percentage points, on average, if we were to rely on such improvements alone. These patterns necessitate a fundamentally different approach to health care human resource management, calling into question typical staffing policies based on qualifications and seniority rather than directly measured quality.

show abstract

Implications of task shifting on power relations in healthcare: the case of clinical officers at public hospitals in Malawi

Chinguwo

2024

Med Humanities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In Malawi, there exists a group of medical professionals known as clinical officers (COs) who assume responsibilities typically carried out by doctors due to the current scarcity of the latter. This paper seeks to explain how the introduction of COs as part of implementing task shifting in healthcare, unintentionally became a terrain for the contestation of power between COs and physicians. The research from which this paper originates used a qualitative research approach. It was carried out in state-owned facilities, encompassing four district hospitals and one central hospital in Malawi. This paper develops a conceptual framework on power and then uses it to demonstrate that task shifting through the introduction of COs as substitutes for physicians, became a source of interprofessional conflicts. The paper argues that unequal power relations between COs and physicians in healthcare contribute to interprofessional conflicts. The paper further demonstrates that unequal power relations between COs and physicians are manifested through differences in educational backgrounds and work experiences as well as unequal responsibility and authority. The paper concludes that the interprofessional conflicts between COs and physicians arising from unequal power relations ultimately aggravate poor psychosocial well-being among COs.

show abstract

Reflections on the first twenty-five years of the University of Malawi College of Medicine

Cited by 5 publications

References 8 publications

Strengthening human resources for health in resource-limited countries: The case of Medic to Medic in Malawi

Strengthening human resources for health in resource-limited countries: The case of Medic to Medic in Malawi

The medical competence of health care providers in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from 16 127 providers across 11 countries

Implications of task shifting on power relations in healthcare: the case of clinical officers at public hospitals in Malawi

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About