The Medical Education Partnership Initiative Effect on Increasing Health Professions Education and Research Capacity in Mozambique

BACKGROUND: Mozambique is an emerging lower income country (LIC) on the southeast coast of Africa. There are significant workforce shortages in medical and health professions in the country. Mozambique was one of 12 countries in Africa that was awarded a grant through the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) in 2010. The overarching goal of MEPI Mozambique was to enhance the capacity of medical schools to train the medical and scientific leadership corps that the country required to facilitate the training of doctors and other health professionals, and thus to strengthen the national health system. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to provide an overview of MEPI Mozambique activities, its outcomes and successes, lessons learned, and how these have sustainably strengthened the health sector in the country. WHAT WAS DONE: The Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) formed a partnership with the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) to implement MEPI Mozambique. A range of activities in medical education, research capacity development, electronic connectivity and information technology, and developing relationships among medical education stakeholders, were performed. OUTCOMES AND EFFECTS: The activities and innovations introduced under MEPI became part of the daily routine in medical education in Mozambique, dramatically influencing attitudes and perceptions. Joint research with partners leveraged research capabilities. The creation of a research support center offered a mechanism to sustainably build on MEPI achievements. Scientific knowledge generated through research has been translated into practice and policy, and has improved the working environment for health professionals. The use of interactive communication technologies enabled the scaling up of training and research in sustainable ways, and created communities of practice. CONCLUSION: MEPI Mozambique developed transformational long-term partnerships between UEM, UCSD and other partners. These are changing the trajectory of medical and health professions education in Mozambique and creating sustainable capacity for research.