The School of Medicine (SOMED) is making significant progress in strengthening medical training by expanding and reinforcing partnerships with rural health facilities across Kenya.
As part of this effort, lecturers from SOMED, led by Dr. Musa Mohamed (Head of External Relations and Linkages at the College of Health Sciences), Mr. Shadrack Asena (Chairman, Department of Clinical Medicine), and Ms. Eunice Chelogoi (Coordinator for Rural Attachment), conducted a tour of several counties in Western Kenya in March 2025.
The visit aimed to evaluate healthcare facilities by assessing infrastructure, staffing levels, and patient load while fostering collaborations to secure student attachment opportunities. A key focus was on establishing Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to formalize partnerships and enhance hands-on training for medical students in diverse healthcare settings.
The delegation visited several leading Teaching and Referral Hospitals, including Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Vihiga, and Moi. They also toured Rural Health Training Centres like Chulaimbo and Mbale, as well as Sub-County hospitals such as Bukoli, Burnt Forest, and Matayos.
Notably, the delegation held a high-level meeting with His Excellency Arthur Odera, Deputy Governor and Head of Health & Sanitation for Busia County. He emphasized the urgent need for more healthcare professionals, as Busia County serves both Kenyan and Ugandan populations.
Many Ugandan patients cross the border seeking quality healthcare services in Kenya. As a result, Busia, being a border region, has specialized port health services to screen for infectious diseases such as viral hemorrhagic fevers (including Ebola, Yellow Fever, and Marburg), COVID-19, and HIV.
This high patient influx, coupled with the critical need for continuous disease surveillance and rapid response, has created an urgent demand for more healthcare professionals to ensure efficient screening, diagnosis, and treatment, while also strengthening cross-border health security.
During the tour, the management of these health institutions, Dr. Philip Kirwa and Dr. Richard Lesiyampe, Chief Executive Officers of Moi and Jaramogi Referral hospitals, respectively, welcomed the initiative and affirmed their readiness to host JKUAT students, which would be a complement to their advanced medical facilities and ongoing expansion projects.
Students will benefit immensely from these placements through exposure to diverse medical expertise in hospitals equipped with specialists across various fields, such as Intensive Care Units and fully functional clinics. Some facilities also feature modern Oncology units, which are crucial for cancer care. Additionally, students will have an opportunity to attend hospital meetings, providing them with valuable insights into healthcare management and administrative decision-making.
On the other hand, the counties will benefit from the partnership as they will avail additional health resources to strengthen the facilities and the community health outreach training. The delegation observed that the counties have so much potential in the area of research that can influence development in the county particularly on revenue allocation for health care.
JKUAT seeks to formalize these partnerships through Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) while offering training programs to improve healthcare delivery in these regions. Many healthcare staff in these facilities are eager to enhance their skills through JKUAT short programs offered at the Digital Health and Applied Research Centre (DHARC), ensuring patients benefit from up-to-date medical care.
Dr. Mohamed is optimistic these endeavors will bear fruit. He emphasizes the importance of hands-on clinical exposure, especially in rural areas stating, “These partnerships will provide our students with a well-rounded medical education while strengthening healthcare services in underserved areas.”
