Clinical Training and Mentoring

In developing countries, scaling up treatment for HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria, and providing for primary health care require well-functioning hospitals and clinics in rural areas. These facilities must be equipped with highly trained, efficient, and effective care in order to effectively combat the spread of devastating diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

CHAI's Model
CHAI has introduced clinical training and mentoring programs in select developing countries as part of its efforts to expand treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS. All training and mentoring programs are initiated at the request of the partner government, and they are an integral part of the national training effort. National treatment guidelines are strictly followed.

Sample programs may include the following, depending on the needs identified by the individual governments:

• Resource Assessment - At the request of the Ministry of Health, CHAI assesses human resource conditions and existing training efforts to identify sites suitable for mentoring. Sites commonly requesting mentors are those that are initiating adult or pediatric ART, or sites that have not scaled-up at the rate that was expected.
• Clinical Mentoring - These programs are aimed specifically at providing on-site teaching and mentoring to local healthcare workers in the clinical care of people living with HIV/AIDS and healthcare management. This mentoring is seen as a critical bridge between didactic training and practical implementation of the knowledge and skills acquired during that training. Local doctors and nurses are guided by experienced HIV clinicians to provide high quality care with the resources available to them. Mentors also assist with team building, problem solving, medical records and patient flow issues. CHAI aims to move each country toward the goal of developing a national clinical mentoring program, using local experts.
• Curriculum Development - CHAI works with partner governments to develop appropriate curricula where gaps are identified.
• Short-Term Training Sessions - Short-term educational training sessions fill critical training gaps and can help develop a group of local experts to serve as the next wave of trainers and mentors. Collaboration with local physician and nurse leaders and educators is a critical component of this strategy.
• Clinical Mentoring Toolkit - CHAI’s Clinical Mentoring Team has developed a comprehensive toolkit to assist country teams in designing and implementing a clinical mentoring program. It includes site readiness assessments, mentoring guidelines, sample case presentations and other educational tools, nurse and physician competencies, wall posters and pocket guides, and monitoring and evaluation tools.