26 Days in Abyssinia: SRS Training Week 1

Today we finished up with the Specimen Referral System Training of Trainers which will facilitate the national roll-out of the program. I can hardly put words to how rewarding the experience has been. For all the time we put in, I got more out of it many fold over. And I was a bit surprised that I almost got choked up at the end during the closing comments. The students really were a wonderful group.

This week, we worked with students who were engaged, enthusiastic and really passionate about how they can apply what they've learned to strengthen the laboratory referral system here in Ethiopia. They participated fully in all the activities and discussions, they challenged us with their questions, and we all had a good time doing it.

I've never been responsible for so much training at one time - 4.5 days of teaching several modules per day and all the facilitating involved, never mind the prep work. It's been exhausting and energizing at the same time. Thankfully, I've had a wonderful team to work with in Debbie, Joan and Adrian. Of course I have to mention the awesome team of curriculum developers who came up with the material, the group who must have worked tirelessly to print and pack the binders, and the teams who provided feedback from the 2 pilot programs back in January and August. Last but definitely not least, a great group of attentive students, willing to learn. Actually, I feel like a lot of the students knew most of the content we were delivering but they were still all ears and eager for more.

Today the groups gave their teachback training sessions and they were all very good - I even picked up some pointers from them! It was just as great to hear the praise and appreciation their colleagues heaped on them during the feedback part of each session, along with some astute observations and constructive criticisms. The feedback continued on the evaluation forms the students filled out. Most were very complimentary of the curriculum and the training as a whole, but several took the time to include constructive feedback on the class and how it can be improved. I really liked how Getachew, the EHNRI partner, suggested the students think of themselves not as teachers but rather they were facilitators yesterday as we sent them off to prepare for the teachbacks. Based on today's performances, I think they took this to heart.

Comments like, "The program is very interesting and it should be given for all lab personnel at health facilities level because most of results from the lab wasn't quality due to unawareness." and "I got many things, even things that are minor that I should know before. Surprisingly, I find many things from my instructors." lead us to believe the course content is relevant to their needs. One person even wrote something like "are you crazy?" when answering the question about what was least valuable about the course!

I've had a great time this past week and I can't wait to see how things work out in 2 weeks' time when we help new trainers from 2 of the Regional training centers give the first roll-out sessions to health care workers in their regions.