Africa-tailored Spirometry Training Course
Spirometry in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia being put into clinical practice and major research projects about asthma.
In 1997, Dr Tom Petty called for widespread distribution of spirometers to measure airflow and air volume for a variety of clinical indications, including asthma. This approach is pertinent in the African context.
Foundational Spirometry Training Programme
The Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS) has developed an international standard Foundational Spirometry Training Programme available for any setting. This uses a blended learning approach, with particular focus on unique African settings and challenges. The first PATS spirometry skills workshop (50 participants) occurred at the inaugural PATS Congress in Nairobi in April 2016 followed by another at the 2017 South African Thoracic Society meeting in Cape Town. Subsequently, in November 2017, Uganda and Ethiopia developed and piloted a full Certificate of Competence Foundational Spirometry course.
The capability built in spirometry in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia is already being put into clinical practice and in major research projects about asthma and other non-communicable lung diseases in Africa.
Full course spirometry training
The full course spirometry training takes a minimum of two months to complete and has three stages: online self-study, three days of face-to-face training, and a portfolio of evidence workbook. The training materials, including five standard operating procedures for spirometry, are freely available online, at http://panafricanthoracic.org/.
If you want to walk fast, walk alone; if you want to walk far, walk together (African proverb)
Spirometry trainers encountered challenges in some settings, including availability, age and quality of equipment; language barriers; and the lack of onsite co-worker expertise. PATS, together with in-country partners, are committed to providing spirometry training tailored to the local context, with personalised one-on-one mentorship of all trainees to ensure spirometry competency and to forge an ongoing partnership with programme attendees.
In every community we visit spirometry champions and future spirometry trainers are identified and trained. Africa is a continent of challenges but also a continent of positive change. While the environment may appear challenging, there are great things happening in Africa.