The MMed programme at KCMU College is designed for qualified medical practitioners who are strongly motivated towards a specialist career in Medical Sciences and Academic Medicine. Those who graduate in these courses will be expected to augment the national need for specialists in medical disciplines, which will improve the roles expected of Tanzanian Consultant Hospitals in teaching, service, and research.
MMed degree programmes offered
The following four-year Master of Medicine (MMed) degree programmes are offered:
- Anesthesia
- Dermato-Venereology
- Diagnostic Radiology
- General Surgery
- Internal Medicine
- Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopedic Surgery
- Otorhinolaryngology
- Pediatrics and Child Health
- Urology
The length of training must be at least 48 calendar months, including appropriate short periods for vacation, special assignments, or exceptional individual circumstances approved by the programme coordinator. Approval for an extended curriculum must be obtained before implementation.
The length of residency training for a particular resident may be extended by the programme coordinator if a resident progresses at a slower pace than provided by the standard rotations. If the extension is six months or less, the programme coordinator must notify the Director of Postgraduate Studies. Further extension may be allowed provided the candidate’s period of MMed registration does not exceed five years.
Programme support and administration.
For each specialty MMed programme a coordinator has to be appointed, who is preferably the Head of Department. The coordinator shall be a qualified senior specialist and licensed to practice medicine in Tanzania. As an administrator, educator, and research coordinator he must devote sufficient time to the residency training programme. The Director of Postgraduate Studies will evaluate his overall effectiveness.
The responsibilities of the coordinator include:
- Defining and disseminating the goals and requirements of residents at each stage of the programme.
- Evaluating the quality of patient care.
- Supervising the teaching staff.
- Creating and maintaining conducive and safe teaching and learning environment.
- Monitoring and reporting the academic and professional progress of the residents
- Monitoring the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of his/her residents.
- Annually, residents will evaluate their programme anonymously.
An overview of the four years is schematically presented below and described hereafter.
The course lasts 4 years, divided over 8 semesters
Residents should average no more than 80 hours per week in patient care activities. They should have at least one day in seven free of patient care and be on call no more than one night in three.
- The effectiveness of the programme shall be regularly evaluated by faculty and residents concerning the quality of the curriculum and the extent to which the educational goals are met.
- The teaching faculty shall be regularly evaluated and shall include evaluation of clinical knowledge, teaching ability and commitment.
- Residents shall be evaluated regularly concerning their knowledge, skills, and overall performance. All evaluations will be kept by the coordinator.
The dissertation options for MMed residents therefore are:
- the present formal research project
- series of minimally 10 cases with different diagnoses, which were largely managed by the MMed resident
- series of minimally 5 cases with the same or similar diagnosis, which were largely managed by the MMed resident
- Cochrane review-like meta-analysis of a clinical entity, leading to a new or improved management protocol.