Keynote speech delivered by the Union Minister Dr. Myint Htwe at THET’s 2020 Annual Conference - Health For All: A Decade to Deliver
 
THET’s virtual Annual Conference was held from 1^st- 6^th October 2020. To celebrate the flourishing relationship between Myanmar and the UK health community, the union minister of the MoHS, Dr. U Myint Htwe, gave a welcome and keynote speech at the conference reiterating the positive impact of collaborative work between the two countries. To watch the full speech, please click here

 

RCP Global Series Webinar on Myanmar COVID-19 Deep Dive
 
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Global team has developed a series of webinars focusing on COVID-19 around the world. The detailed preparations for the first wave of COVID-19 in Myanmar and its outcomes were discussed by the Permanent Secretary Professor Thet Khaing Win, the rector of the University of Medicine (1), the vice-chair of Yangon COVID-19 Management Committee, Professor Zaw Wai Soe, and THET’s Country Director, Dr. Thinn Thinn Hlaing, together with the RCP Global Director, Dr. Russell Robert. To watch the webinar, please click here.
 

Faculty Training on Small Group Teaching Methods for the Undergraduate Medical Curriculum Reform
 
19^th September - 3^rd November 2020

In collaboration with the University of Nottingham and the Central Committee for Integrated Curriculum Development (CCICD), 90 core faculty members from five medical universities across the country took part in virtual small group teaching training. The training was provided by Dr Swe Khin-Htun, Honorary AP of the University of Nottingham with supervision from Professor Reg Dennick, Professor of Medical Education, University of Nottingham. The course equipped the faculty with skills on how to facilitate the students in small group discussions, how to give them feedback near the end of the learning sessions and how to undertake formative or summative assessments. This activity is funded by the Rangoon General Hospital Reinvigoration Charitable Trust (RGHR).

RCGP - Myanmar GP Society Remote Quality Improvement Project Update
 
The RCGP and the Myanmar GP Society continue to work together towards achieving our long-term objective of strengthening General Practice in Myanmar and realising the benefits that this will bring. With the COVID-19 crisis and restrictions on travel to Myanmar, the RCGP Myanmar Volunteers were still determined to work closely with our partner in Myanmar, the Myanmar GP Society, and have adapted our programme to be able to provide workshops remotely through Zoom.
 
Since August 2020, 18 RCGP volunteers, most with education experience as GP trainers, program directors and appraisers, have been working remotely through Zoom with 6 groups of Myanmar GPs in 4 localities (Mandalay, Meiktila, Toungoo and Pathein). In Mandalay and Meiktila, 40 Myanmar GPs who previously participated in the 2018 Quality Improvement (QI) Project are involved in the Quality Champions Training Programme and 28 new Myanmar GPs in Mandalay, Toungoo and Pathein are going through the 6 months Introductory Quality Improvement Training programme.
 
Following an initial learning needs assessment for each group of GPs, a six month QI Training program involving monthly seminars was put together. The higher-level QI Champions Training program for Myanmar GPs in Mandalay and Meiktila include topics such as Improving Outcomes in Chronic Disease Management through Patient Centred Care, for example carrying out patient centred consultations and producing patient information leaflets. The program also includes Leadership and Teamwork training to support local GPs to work effectively together on QI Projects. The program will also provide GPs with the necessary skills to conduct Patient Surveys in order to obtain feedback from patients on the care provided.
 
The introduction to QI Training program for GPs will include topics such as improving medical records, audit of chronic disease, infection control and waste disposal, learning from case reviews and significant events and improving consultation skills. Each group of Myanmar GPs and the 3 RCGP Trainers assigned to them will meet monthly for via Zoom. So far, the 2-hour seminars have included presentations from both RCGP Trainers and Myanmar GPs with considerable group work. In addition, there is “Homework” assigned to the groups in between the meetings, such as producing audits, patient information leaflets or preparing presentation for the next session.
 
After every seminar, feedback is obtained through online surveys tools such as Mentimeter. This feedback is useful to the RCGP Trainers to adapt and make changes to the teaching programme. In addition, we are strengthening remote working with a wider group of GPs in Myanmar through our Facebook site, Myanmar GP Society Quality improvement Group/RCGP Supported, which has over 500 members. The majority of the discussion at present relates to COVID-19.
 
To communicate with the wider GP community in Myanmar, the Myanmar GP Society and the RCGP have also been organising large webinars accessible by all GPs in Myanmar. The discussion forums have included timely topics such as “Ethical issues in the COVID-19 Pandemic” and “Proper use of PPE”. The next webinar in this programme will be on “The role of General Practice in the COVID-19 Pandemic in the UK and Myanmar”, which is planned for early November 2020. This project is funded by the Rangoon General Reinvigoration Trust (RGHR).
 
Royal College of Radiologists Digital Learning Programme
 
23^rd September-9^th October
 
The Radiation Oncologists from Myanmar were invited to contribute to the “Clinical oncology international impact of COVID-19 – Myanmar”. Professor May Thinn Hlaing, an oncologist from Yangon General Hospital, provided details on the effects of COVID-19 on cancer patients in Myanmar.

Courses for postgraduate training and education for doctors based in Myanmar with a specific focus of Saving Mothers and Neonates in Myanmar
 
A group of UK-based NHS Obstetrics and Gynaecology Consultants are delivering a variety of courses for Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Myanmar. The aims are (1) to encourage and support postgraduate training and education in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialty in Myanmar, and the development of best practice guidelines (2) to strengthen health systems and to develop better coordinated structures and standards to improve women’s health services (3) to support the career development plan and to become a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

The available courses are: (1) Interpretation of electronic fetal monitoring (CTG masterclasses) for the early diagnosis and prompt management of fetal distress in labour (2) Management of Obstetric Emergencies to diagnose, escalate and manage to save both mothers and babies’ lives (3) Management of high-risk pregnancies through multidisciplinary teams in order to plan antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal management (4) Clinical Governance to raise awareness among medical professionals of the importance of the seven pillars of clinical governance including incident reporting, investigation and learning from mistakes (5) Prioritization of clinical urgency for doctors who work at busy tertiary referral centres.  Moreover, there is an English conversation club available for doctors to practice history taking and communication skills. All courses are delivered online in a live interactive format with a very good uptake from Myanmar doctors.
 
For more details, please contact Dr. Diana Tun on her Facebook messenger or contact +95 (0) 95087728.

Virtual Volunteering Opportunities in Myanmar
 
Given the unprecedented changes in global health due to the COVID-19 pandemic, THET is now seeking to expand the ways in which the UK health workforce can support its partners in LMICs. The remote or virtual volunteering opportunities provide an exciting opportunity for health workers in both the UK and LMICs to engage in capacity development projects related to the COVID-19 response and to support the delivery of quality essential services more broadly. The volunteers will share knowledge to meet the priority needs defined by national partners. With a focus on mentorship and capacity development, volunteers will work alone or with a team of UK professionals to provide a range of support, including the delivery of training sessions and the adaptation of global standards and protocols.
 
For Myanmar, applications are open for experienced medical physicists and radiation oncologists. For more details, please click here.
 
UK Partnerships for Health Systems (UKPHS) program launched
 
THET has launched a new grant call for Health Partnerships. The UKPHS aims to contribute to SDG 3: ensuring healthier lives and promotion of well-being for all at all ages, including supporting countries to achieve universal health coverage.The key outcome of the programme will be improved capability of the health system to address national priorities, including meeting the needs of the poor and most vulnerable populations, and all projects should feed into this. Myanmar is included in the Wave 1 Grant Call. For more information on how to apply, priority areas and the closing dates, please click here.