Medicine and Oral Health

Medicine and Oral Health

The school of Medicine and Oral Health is one of the 5 schools in the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences. It is the only institution training doctors and dentists in Malawi. 

Departments:

1. Anaesthesia
2. Family Medicine – Learn more about family medicine from this link : https://youtu.be/pa1NzFX2Wdk
3. Internal Medicine: General internal medicine, emergency medicine
4. Obstetrics and Gynecology
5. Oral Health
6. Pathology: anatomical pathology, parasitology, microbiology, immunology
7. Pediatrics and Child Health: pediatric oncology, nutritional rehabilitation, general pediatrics, radiology
8. Psychiatry
9. Surgery: General Surgery, ENT surgery, Ophthalmology, Neurosurgery, pediatric surgery, orthopedics and trauma (yet to be established: urology, cardiothoracic surgery)

Undergraduate Programs

1. Bachelor of Science programs for clinical officers: Clinical officers have been the backbone of the Malawi health service delivery for many years after independence. The program of training clinical officers (equivalent to physician assistants the USA) started in the 1970. In the last 10 years, programs started in the College of Medicine to provided skills that would allow the clinical officers to perform at a higher level in specific field. The university currently trains clinical officers at a bachelor level in the following areas: anesthesia, internal medicine, pediatrics and child health, orthopedics and trauma, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery. These are 3 year upgrading programs after a diploma from accredited clinical officer training institutions.

Entry requirements: 6 Subjects passed with credit at MSCE including English, Biology, Physical Science (or Chemistry/Physics) and Mathematics and a recognized Diploma in Clinical Medicine or its equivalent from a recognized institution plus at least two years post diploma working experience in a relevant discipline.

2. Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS): The university is yet to graduate any students. Our first intake as of July 2022 are in their third year of a five-year program. Dentistry is one of our flagship programs considering that the number of dentists in Malawi is terribly small. Many of the dentists currently working in Malawi are in private practice.
3. Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS): The program is the oldest in the then College of Medicine. It is a five-year program 

Postgraduate programs:

The School runs several Master of Medicine (MMED) programs at present linked to the major departments listed above except in pathology and Oral Health. At the exit examinations, the candidate attains a specialist status in their field of study registrable by the Medical Council of Malawi. The department of pathology is developing these programs in histopathology, immunology, microbiology and hematology. It is our hope that these programs will start in the academic year 2023

Our training sites: We have several training sites for our programs.

• The Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre: The QECH has been the hub of training since the inception of the College of Medicine. Almost all programs take place here.

• Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe: Our third year students in the BDS, MBBS programs train here. Some students in the MMED obstetrics and gynecology also train here.
• Mangochi District Hospital in Mangochi: This is the hub for training of family medicine at both undergraduate rotations and MMED in Family Medicine. Situated at the southern tip of Lake Malawi, the site provides training in a somewhat relaxing atmosphere
• Nkhoma Hospital in Lilongwe: Our trainees in family medicine rotate here
• Mulanje Mission Hospital in Mulanje: our trainees in family medicine rotate here
• St Gabriel Hospital: one of the new additions for training in family medicine
• Neno District Hospital. Training site for family medicine
• Mzuzu Central Hospital in Mzuzu: A training site for our BSc in general surgery.