MUST EM residents running a BLS practical session organized by MUST-EMIG on campus for EM-bound students.
The Formation of the First StudentLed EM Interest Group in Uganda
SAEM PULSE | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
By Jonathan Kajjimu and Randall Ellis, MD, MPH, MBA
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Emergency medicine (EM) is a new specialty in Uganda. Graduation of the first class of EM residents occurred only in 2020. The Ugandan Ministry of Health and many collaborating organizations are working to develop and improve emergency care for all 47 million citizens. Until recently, EM was not an option for students, but that has changed. This is an overview of the first EM interest group (EMIG) in the country. It was on social media that I found a poster of the inaugural Emergency Care Conference in Uganda to occur August 2019 and decided to attend. My objective was to learn more about reading electrocardiograms (ECGs). I attended the ECG workshop and met an amazing facilitator, Dr. Mary Ellen Lyon, who later became my first formal mentor. Dr. Lyon motivated me to start an emergency medicine interest group (EMIG) as a way of sharing resources with other students who were passionate about EM. I was matched with my mentor, Dr. Lyon, by Dr. Christine Ngaruiya, who spoke at
the conference about mentorship with female students in Kenya. Around this time, another EM physician, Dr. Mardi Steere, shared a link to a virtual EM conference organized by Don’t Forget the Bubbles (DFTB). I attended this DFTB event in August 2020 and met Dr. Andrew Tagg, who would become key to the successful foundation of our EMIG. In late September 2020 I connected with a Nigerian colleague on Twitter who had started a national EMIG in her country. She encouraged me to start an EMIG at Mbarara University of Science & Technology (MUST), a public university in Uganda. Finally, through the guidance of Drs. Lyons and Tagg, the help of faculty advisor Dr. Justine Athieno Odakha, and online support and resources from the Emergency Medicine Residents Association (EMRA), our EMIG was finally established. The Mbarara University of Science and Technology Emergency Medicine Interest Group (MUST-EMIG) officially started on
December 9, 2020. Our student group was originally founded for medical students, but in a quest to include other members of the emergency care team, we decided to invite interested nursing students to be members as well. Currently medical students make up most of the group membership. The goals of MUST-EMIG include providing opportunities for students to learn key aspects of the EM knowledge base and participate in resuscitation simulations. The EMIG also facilitates close communication between students and the department of emergency medicine at MUST and introduces the specialty of EM to MUST students and faculty. During a recent survey of over 100 registered group members, most students believed that the EMIG could aid in pursuing a career in EM. Our EMIG is serving as a model to other student organizations at MUST and throughout Uganda.
