JHPIEGO TrainerNews™ |
Technology-Assisted Learning Centers
Open at Two Medical Institutes in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
(January 2001)
In November 2000, JHPIEGO sponsored the launch of two Technology-Assisted Learning Centers (TALCs) at the Obstetrics and Gynecology departments of the First and Second Tashkent State Medical Institutes in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The TALCs will enable both training sites to serve as national and regional information resource centers for reproductive health (especially family planning) training and service provision.
In April 1999, a group of NGOs with extensive training capacity formed a transnational alliance of NGOs called the Central Asian Medical and Pedagogical Association (CAMPA). In order to sustain progress in reproductive health training and education throughout the regions, CAMPA has begun exploring ways to leverage resources, including Internet connectivity. To help further the efforts of CAMPA, TALCs at the two major medical institutes were established to ensure that medical and nursing/midwifery school instructors receive the reproductive health knowledge and skills they need to train new students and service providers effectively.
JHPIEGO Master Trainer Larisa Agababyan and Program Development Officer Andreas Tamberg conducted a 7-day computer training event for staff of both medical institutes, including professors, department chairs, and seventh-year medical students. The training included conducting health-related Internet research and collaborating with colleagues over the Internet through the use of chat and file exchange software. Participants also developed plans of how to incorporate computer and Internet resources into curriculum.
For more information about the Tashkent TALCs, contact Andreas Tamberg <atamberg@jhpiego.org> or Larisa Agababyan <alarisa@online.ru>.