Health Service delivery and training at Makerere University College of Health Sciences: The role of the academic health centers' network

Academic Health Centers provide a network of clinical training facilities for high quality service delivery, within clinical training and research settings. At an academic health/medical center, education, research, and clinical care are combined to provide the best possible clinical care, which uses cutting-edge technologies, resources and therapies other community hospitals may not have available. This paper summarizes the network of teaching hospitals for health care training in the last century of Makerere University College of Health Sciences, its local and regional impact, lessons learned and future of actively engaging the network of academic health centers to expand clinical training and research opportunities to meet the needs of the 21(st) Century populations. Medical schools and training hospitals need to integrate of their roles in research, education, and patient care to provide evidence-based interventions and innovations to both treat illness and improve health.