Abstract
It is evident that politicians, health managers and academics are realising the potential contribution of Family Medicine to health systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The challenge is in training institutions to recruit and train enough Family Physicians in order to meet expectations. The 3rd Family Medicine Conference in Uganda, held in October 2013, explored innovative ways of scaling up Family Medicine training and practice in Uganda.
Highlights
A lot is expected of this specialty, especially as politicians, health managers and academics continue to realise its potential contribution to health systems in subSaharan Africa
It was resolved during the conference that it is not acceptable for Uganda to keep training family physicians at this slow http://www.phcfm.org pace
There is a need for a paradigm shift from training family physicians in tertiary and/or teaching hospitals to training them in community health centres
Summary
Medicine is one of sub-Saharan Africa’s rapidly-developing medical disciplines.[1,2] It is a recognised specialty in several African countries such as Botswana, South Africa, Ghana and Kenya.[3,4] At the same time, a lot is expected of this specialty, especially as politicians, health managers and academics continue to realise its potential contribution to health systems in subSaharan Africa.Relevance of primary healthcare and Family MedicineSince the publication of the World Health Report 2008, which emphasised that primary healthcare (PHC) is needed more than ever before,[5] strategies have been proposed regarding how to achieve this vision effectively. This puts Family Medicine in a position to make a significant contribution toward strengthening PHC and/or the district health system. In Africa, it has been accepted that the clinical practice of Family Medicine is integral to the district health system and includes care at the community, health centre and hospital levels.
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