THE 2014 MEPI SYMPOSIUM TO BE HELD IN MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE

The fourth annual Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Symposium will take place on August 5, 6, and 7, 2014 in Maputo – Mozambique at the Joaquim Chissano Internatiobnal Conference Center. The African Coordinating Center (ACHEST) alongside George Washington University, will play a vital role on the pre-conference preparations and onsite management.
The symposium themed “Optimizing impact in MEPI by catalyzing change and building sustainability”, will attract health experts, health professional educators, and their development partners across Africa and the rest of the world. The symposium will feature plenary sessions, breakout sessions, and workshops. The innovations presentations will assure that every school in the MEPI Network has an opportunity to present some aspects of their program.

The diverse activities of the awardee schools are organized into five MEPI thematic areas of increasing the number and quality of HCW's trained; Retaining HCWs over time and in areas where they are most needed; improving regionally relevant research; Ensuring Sustainability and creating Community of Practice.
The sub themes for the fourth annual symposium are: Partnerships: Lessons for MEPI, Innovative Technologies: Impact and Sustainability, Sharing Experiences and Learning together for Impact and Sustainability, Assuring Quality, Regulation and Measurement, and Linking Academic Centers to Health Systems for Sustainability.

All together there are 13 schools in 12 Sub-Saharan African countries 2 of which are pilots. The schools include: University of Nairobi, Kenya; University of Zambia, Zambia; Makerere University, Uganda; Stellenbosch University, South Africa; University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa; Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique; University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe; Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; University of Botswana, Botswana; University of Ibadan, Nigeria; Kililmanjaro Christian Medical University College, Tanzania;  Kwame Nkrumah University, Ghana;and University of Malawi, Malawi. The pilot projects are in Malawi and Ghana.