Placement Organization: Infectious Diseases Institute, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University
Placement Location: Kampala, Uganda
Eligible Citizenship: American

 

About: Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) was registered in 2004 as an independent non-governmental organization (NGO) owned by Makerere University (a public university) in Uganda. Its mission is “To build the capacity of health systems in Africa for the delivery of sustainable, high quality care and prevention of HIV/AIDS and related infections through training, research, and advanced clinical care.” IDI has an international board, is funded by a variety of private and public sources, and currently has 848 full time and part time staff across the country. IDI was originally set up to rapidly develop capacity in Uganda and the region for scale up of HIV treatment and for research in locally relevant models of care for HIV/AIDS. Since its establishment, its mandate has expanded to cover HIV prevention, malaria, and TB.

IDI’s major program areas are:

  • Prevention, Care and Treatment (for HIV/AIDS and related infectious diseases): IDI provides free services to about 10,000 clients in its Adult Infectious Diseases Clinic and another 10,000 plus clients in various urban and rural outreach projects.
  • Training: IDI has trained over 6,400 health workers from 27 African countries in the areas of HIV/AIDS, malaria, pharmacy, laboratory and data management; the training program also supports the AIDS Treatment Information Center (ATIC) which provides health workers throughout the region with vital information on HIV/AIDS-related prescriptions and drug interactions.
  • Research: IDI has 45 research projects in progress with over 30 international collaborators from Africa, Europe and North America. IDI research focuses on identifying best practices and models of care for prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS and related infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa as well as supporting the development of upcoming Ugandan medical researchers.
  • Laboratory:  IDI is host to the Makerere University-Johns Hopkins University (MUJHU) collaboration lab, one of only a small number in Africa that are certified by the College of American pathologists (CAP). The lab serves over 70 programs and research projects.

 

Position Overview: The Global Health Corps Distance Learning Fellow will work closely with the IDI learning innovations team and under the supervision of the learning innovations center manager, to develop content in support of the “e-learning” portfolio of IDI. The fellow will also coordinate all distance learning courses of IDI in collaboration with the technical trainers.

 

Responsibilities:

  • Identify relevant and freely available or open source materials that can be added to the IDI repository as content for the e-learning platform
  • Upload content onto the distance learning platform of IDI, using the following methods: PowerPoint presentations with voice-overs, podcasts, etc.
  • Update the e-learning platform to include more interactivity, e.g., online self-assessments and moderated live sessions between tutors and students
  • Participate in the design and implementation of e-learning and innovative learning applications with the specific needs of IDI partners in mind
  • Develop curricular and relevant Health Learning Materials for the different courses at the IDI
  • Revise existing curricula for the various courses and modules provided by the IDI
  • Work with the training team in implementing the various curricula
  • Ensure productive networking and collaboration with relevant partners and stakeholders in curriculum and health learning materials development
  • Take on any other Training Department assigned duties

 

Required Skills and Experience:

  • Knowledge of virtual learning platforms, specifically Moodle
  • Curriculum development skills and experience
  • Willing to learn and able to work under pressure
  • Good interpersonal and teamwork skills
  • Fluency in English

 

Preferred Skills and Experience:

  • Experience working with an e-learning project/program.
  • Proposal writing experience

 

Living Conditions: Fellows will be provided with housing in Kampala, health insurance and a living stipend of $550/month. Fellows will also receive an award of $1500 upon successful completion of the fellowship year.  Flights to and from the placement site and all other costs associated with GHC programming are included.