The Virtual Doctors: Developing a Sustainable Telemedicine Service in Rural Africa
7th November 2022
The Faculty of Remote, Rural and Humanitarian Healthcare is delighted to present the next webinar in their spotlight webinar series.
Through this spotlight series, the Faculty aim to bring updates on best practice, innovation and key developments within remote, rural and humanitarian healthcare. The latest offering in this series will explore the use of telemedicine in low resource settings using the Virtual Doctors as a case study. Members of the Virtual Doctors Team, including founder and president, Huw Jones, will share their best practice gained from over a decade working with local healthcare professionals in rural Zambia.
Overview
This webinar will explore the use of telemedicine in low resource settings, using the Virtual Doctors as a case study. Along the way we will share some of the challenges and success stories behind over a decade of work in Zambia, and we will also present some of our recent work on antimicrobial stewardship. There will be an opportunity for Q&A following the three presentations and we look forward to seeing you there.
The Virtual Doctors are a UK-based charity operating in Zambia & Malawi. They use a simple Smartphone App to connect rural health centres, where there are no doctors, with over 230 volunteer Doctors, based predominantly in the UK. Their mission is to reduce unnecessary referrals to distant & hard to reach hospitals, enhance knowledge transfer between medical professionals and through this reduce morbidity and mortality rates.
Aims
Telemedicine has become ubiquitous since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This webinar will explore the use of telemedicine in low resource settings, using the Virtual Doctors as a case study, and highlight some of the challenges faced when developing such a platform.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this webinar, participants should be able to:
- Define telemedicine and understand it’s potential application in low resource settings.
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Discuss the pros and cons of different telemedical strategies, using the Virtual Doctors as a case study.
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Appreciate some of the common challenges regarding antimicrobial stewardship in low resource settings and possible ways to mitigate for these.
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Appreciate the reciprocal benefits that remote volunteering can have for clinicians and health systems.
Volunteer
To volunteer you need to have:
• Active GMC or HCPZ registration
• CCT* (for UK doctors)
• An internet connection!
*If you do not yet have CCT, we may be able to accept you on a case by case basis: for example, if you have DTM&H and are a senior registrar, approaching CCT, so please get in touch!
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us on daniel.grace@virtualdoctors.org
Panellists
Our panellists include:
Dr Daniel Grace - Virtual Doctors Medical Director
Daniel is a GP, expedition doctor, travel health physician and volunteer medical director for the Virtual Doctors the UK’s leading telemedical charity. He has held this role since 2020 and has been volunteering with the charity since 2018.
Mr Huw Jones - Virtual Doctors Founder and President
Huw founded the Virtual Doctors in 2009, having previously worked in Zambia as a safari guide. Until recently he held the position of CEO, during which time the charity grew to support over 215 rural health centres in Zambia.
Dr Moe Takenoshita - Junior Doctor
Moe is currently working in the Oxford and Thames Valley Deanery whilst completing her foundation training. She has a keen interest in how digital health can be used to improve quality and accessibility in healthcare, and joined the Virtual Doctors as part of her “virtual” medical school elective.
CPD
1 Hour
To be eligible to receive CPD hours for webinar attendance you must connect for the full duration of the webinar AND complete the feedback survey.
Visit our FAQ for further information relating to webinar CPD.
Recording
