Fakultet for medisin og helsevitenskap etablerte i 2007 et samarbeid med Kathmandu University (KU) School of Medical Sciences/Dhulikhel Hospital. NTNU og Kathmandu University har hatt en samarbeidsavtale om undervisning og forskning siden 2002. Flere miljøer ved NTNU er involvert i samarbeidet, blant annet sykepleier- og fysioterapiutdanningen, som sender et stort antall studenter i praksis ved Dhulikhel hospital hvert år.

We work closely with the organization CapaCare . In 2011, the organization was established by two surgeons from St. Olav's Hopsital in Trondheim. Since 2011, CapaCare, in collaboration with the Sierra Leonean Ministry of Health, has launched the surgical training program. The goal of the program is to improve access to surgical services in rural areas by training physicians and non-physicians in basic life-saving surgery and obstetrics.

Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa. The health system is strongly affected by the civil war (1991-2002) and the Ebola epidemic (2014-2016). Poor infrastructure, insufficient human resources and poverty among the population have led to very high maternal, newborn and infant mortality rates. The country has an enormous unmet surgical need with 9 out of 10 people with a surgical condition not receiving the health care they need.

Since the start of the program, more than 60 students have graduated. At most hospitals in Sierra Leone, graduates of the program perform surgeries. More than 20% of the operations performed in the country are performed by one of the candidates from the CapaCare program. In addition to the surgical training program, the advanced professional development course is offered for both recent graduates from the program and doctors. The program is now collaborating with the School of Clinical Sciences in Makeni to ensure a sustainable future.

Liberia is a neighboring country to Sierra Leone, with a similar history, geography and health system challenges. In 2022, CapaCare started a project to train surgical and obstetric LIS doctors at a hospital in Tapeta, central Liberia and a 7-hour journey from the capital Monrovia. This project has been carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Liberia and the Liberian College of Physicians and Surgeons, and builds on the experiences from Sierra Leone.

In both projects, several employees from St. Olav's Hospital have participated as teachers. Over 20 NTNU medical and international health students have written their master's thesis related to the projects. Two NTNU PhDs have been completed by Håkon A. Bolkan and Alex J. van Duinen .

CapaCare fokuserer på å bidra med opplæring for å forbedre tilgangen til viktige helsetjenester i to av verdens fattigste land. Integrering av forskning er en vesentlig del av prosjektet og derfor er samarbeid med NTNU og andre akademiske partnere en forutsetning. Gjennom prosjektet kan NTNU-studenter og St Olav-ansatte fortsette å bidra til bærekraftig utvikling og få et bedre perspektiv på global helse.

Kontakt: Håkon A. Bolkan
Kontakt: Alex J. van Duinen

Pågående PhD prosjekt:

"Unmet need or epidemic of caesarean sections in the changing surgical landscape of Sierra Leone? – an exploratory study”
by Josien Westendorp, NTNU, IKOM

"Increasing access to surgical services for the rural population in Liberia: Implementation research on the feasibility and impact of decentralized module-based surgical training of non-specialist medical doctors."
by  Juul Bakker , NTNU, IKOM

NTNU, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences have a formal agreement with Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) and Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST)

For many years we have had student exchange (nurse and medicine) to Malawi both in the clinic, especially with a focus on pregnancy, childbirth and newborn care, but also fieldwork for medicine students in the main thesis term has been in Malawi.

We also have some ongoing PhD students:

• Bertha Immaculate Chakhame, KUHeS; "The use of Misoprostol in the Management of Incomplete Abortion in Selected Health Facilities in Malawi"
• Mphatso Mwapasa, MUST; "Reproductive health effects associated with environmental and dietary exposure to persistent toxic substances (PTS) in Pregnant mothers and infants in Southern Region of Malawi" 

Post doc Maria Lisa Odland with the project title "The use of medical treatment with misoprostol in the treatment of incomplete abortions in Malawi"

NORHED II project: Maternal and Neonatal Health in Malawi  - MNHM

Project managers: Jon Øyvind Odland and Håkon Bolkan

European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP): Global Evidence, Local Adaptation Project (GELA) 
Project managers:  Simon Lewin and Elodie Besnier from NTNU's Department of Health Sciences Ålesund

GELA is supporting the production of evidence-informed guidelines for newborn and child health in three countries: Malawi (KUHeS), Nigeria and South Africa. NTNU researchers are working with colleagues in these countries to produce systematic reviews to support these guidelines, and to package this evidence for decision making. The team is also evaluating how best to support stakeholders in using evidence to inform guideline decisions, including options for packaging this evidence. Read more about the GELA project here.

I mai 2014 underskrev dekan ved Fakultet for medisin og helsevitenskap og rektor ved Muhimbili University of Health and Allied sciences (MUHAS) en samarbeidsavtale innen utdanning og forskning.

Professor Elisabeth Darj har hatt et samarbeid med MUHAS gjennom Sidamidler (Styrelsen for internasjonalt utvecklingssamarbete) siden 2006 og har veiledet seks phd-kandidater der.

Det ble også undertegnet en avtale om medisinstudentutveksling. Gjennom denne avtalen er det mulig for medisinstudenter ved NTNU å ha praksis ved MUHAS sykehuset, samt at Tanzanianske medisinstudenter kan komme hit til Trondheim og følge studiet her når det undervises på engelsk.

I samarbeid med Picterus, etableres det nå et forskningsprosjekt hvor man sjekker nyfødte for gulsott ved hjelp av en App utviklet ved NTNU. 

Selv om Sør-Afrika i dag regnes som upper middle income country av OECD som rangerer verdens lav- og mellominntektsland, lever en stor del av befolkningen under fattigdomsgrensa. Samtidig opplever et mindretall av befolkningen stor rikdom og dette bidrar til enorme kontraster i Sør-Afrika. DMF vil med sitt engasjement i Sør-Afrika ha fokus på den delen av helsevesenet som tilbys det fattige flertallet i landet.

Samarbeidet i Sør-Afrika inngår som en sentral del av DMFs satsing på global helse. DMF har hatt et samarbeid siden 2004, men det er først i 2011 at vi underskrev en formell samarbeidsavtale med University of KwaZuluNatal (UKZN), Nelson Mandels School of Medicine.

Primæraktiviteten i samarbeidet er et opplæringsprogram av jordmødre. Programmet går ut på å videreutdanne distriktsjordmødre innen ultralyd og diagnostisering i svangerskapet. Videreutdanningen av jordmødrene gjøres i samarbeid med WHO's kompetansesenter innen fostermedisin ved St. Olavs Hospital.

In connection with this program, there is a broad collaboration with both the business community and the technology community at the university to develop a robust and mobile ultrasound device with Doppler functionality that can be used in small health clinics in the districts.

Every year, medical students from DMF travel to King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban . Here they get a very relevant practice in areas such as gynecology, obstetrics and pediatrics, and that several students have also written research assignments related to challenges in mother-child care in South Africa.

Read more about the research project.

GE healthcare presents the new ultrasound device: