UGHE’s School of Medicine has been granted accreditation by the East African Council of Higher Education, the accrediting authority for medical education programs in the East African Community member countries. The accreditation was confirmed after the joint inspection which was held at UGHE Butaro Campus and its teaching hospital, Butaro Hospital on Wednesday 21st September 2022 by the EAC Partner States National Medical and Dental Councils as part of the scheduled 3rd Joint Inspection of new and existing Medical and Dental Schools. UGHE’s medical school which began in 2019, earns the EAC accreditation after only three years in achieving its mission to radically transform global health education and health care delivery around the world. UGHE’s Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic and Research Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine, Professor Abebe Bekele attributed the great achievement to UGHE’s committed leadership and staff as well as the dedicated partners and donors who have unwaveringly supported the University since its inception. “This was made possible because of the incredible work and dedication to the UGHE’s mission and vision by all members of the UGHE family, including our partners and supporters, our leadership, faculty, staff, and students” said Prof Abebe Bekele. “This great achievement will enable the medical school to collaborate and partner with regional and international institutions in resource sharing, co-development of programs, lateral sharing of expertise, and the opportunity to build consortiums for greater global impact” he added. The inspection aimed at establishing the level of compliance with the standards and guidelines governing medical and dental schools in the East African Community with a view of improving the services and promotion of the harmonization of education and training in the region. UGHE was found to comply with the regional guidelines for inspection and recognition of medical schools and teaching hospitals in EAC partner states. These guidelines include governance and management, academic programs, physical infrastructure, faculty, students' affairs, program monitoring and evaluation and research and innovation. “UGHE is proud to be among the universities in Rwanda with the EAC regional accreditation and this will go a long way in extending our unique educational pedagogy where students are selected to work for undeserved communities in their countries and equipped with quality education with an expectation to return to their home countries after graduation to build, repair or improve their health sector” said UGHE’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Agnes Binagwaho. “UGHE continues to create a cradle of unique solutions that drive systemic change, in a way that others have not based on our principle that equity in quality health services delivery starts with equity in access to quality education” she added. Other Universities that received the accreditation include, University of Rwanda - School of Medicine, University of Rwanda - Dental School as well as the Adventist School of Medicine of East – Central Africa, Adventist University of Central Africa (AUCA). UGHE is an initiative of Partners In Health which was founded with a mission to radically change the way health care is delivered around the world by training generations of global health professionals who strive to deliver more equitable, quality health services for all. UGHE’s joint Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery equips future physicians with state-of-the-art clinical knowledge and know-how, as well as the skills needed to effectively implement innovative public health solutions, lead and manage equitable health systems, and improve the delivery of care in communities across the globe.
