The Ministry of Health (MoH) in partnership with Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S CDC) is implementing the Uganda Public Health Fellowship Program (UPHFP), an initiative to develop the next generation of public health leadership for Uganda. The goal of this program is to develop a competent workforce by learning-through-service and responding to real public health problems of Uganda.
The UPHFP, which is housed in the Uganda National Institute of Public Health (UNIPH), is offered in six tracks, namely: Field Epidemiology; Laboratory Leadership; Health Informatics; Health Economics (Prevention Effectiveness), Implementation Science, and Monitoring and Evaluation. Currently, only the Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Leadership Tracks are operational.
Laboratory Leadership Fellowship is a 2-year training-through-service program in laboratory leadership. Fellows develop competencies by providing valuable laboratory leadership service to the MoH and District Health Teams; 75% of the fellows’ time will be spent on field projects with supervision and mentorship provided by MoH, U.S. CDC and UNIPH, with 25% spent in interactive didactic training.
Competency domains include laboratory systems and infrastructure, leadership, laboratory-based disease surveillance and outbreaks investigations, laboratory quality management systems, policy and program management, and communication. Fellows will prove competency by completing a portfolio of projects in each of these domains. Fellows will serve in priority technical units of the MoH or relevant affiliated institutions to complete this portfolio under the supervision and mentorship of national and international subject-area experts.
Number of Fellowships on offer: The program will offer five (05) Fellowship positions in Laboratory leadership.
Required Academic Qualifications: Eligible applicants should have a master’s degree in any of the following disciplines: Microbiology, Parasitology, Histopathology, Clinical chemistry, Hematology, Immunology or any other health or biomedical laboratory related disciplines.
Required Work Experience: Applicants should have at least three (03) years of work experience in public health laboratory service (i.e. either human or animal). Applicants working in hard-to-reach areas and those working within the Public Service will have an added advantage. Successful applicants working within the Public Service will be required to provide a letter releasing them for 2 years to pursue the Fellowship prior to enrolment; and a valid extract and certificate from Allied Health Professional Council.