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Global Health Master's students support research on postgraduate medical education in The Gambia

Claire Horder

Health Systems Strengthening Lead, King's Global Health Partnerships

15 May 2025

Each year, students on the MSc in Global Health are given the opportunity to carry out their dissertation research on key projects being delivered by King’s Global Health Partnerships (KGHP). This year, four projects were developed to deepen our understanding of aspects of the postgraduate medical training programmes in the Gambia.

School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences The Gambia
School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences in Banjul, The Gambia

The Gambia, mainland Africa’s smallest country and KGHP’s newest partnership, is at a critical juncture in its postgraduate training journey. The first postgraduate training of doctors in The Gambia only started in 2021, supported by the World Bank and under the accreditation of the West African College of Surgery and the West African College of Physicians.

KGHP's work on Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME), funded by CRI Foundation, is embedded across all of our programmes. As part of this work, KGHP and NHS colleagues from the Evelina Children’s Hospital, and in partnership with Humanity First, have been supporting colleagues and partners at Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul to:

  • strengthen their postgraduate medical training programmes
  • develop leadership and mentorship for trainees
  • begin to initiate a specialist paediatric surgery fellowship programme,
  • and convene the first ever national conference for postgraduate medical education (PGME) in the country, which took place in November 2024.

King’s College London Master's Students contribute to KGHP work

To support this work, four King’s students on the MSc in Global Health are carrying out their Master's dissertation research on PGME in The Gambia. This has included four weeks’ field research, based in Banjul.

Two linked qualitative studies by Janis Wu and Hannah Lavy are exploring the life courses and career trajectories of specialist trainee doctors across all the residency programmes at Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital. Maddy Wright is conducting a mixed-methods study on the preparedness of the facility for accreditation for a paediatric surgery fellowship. Stacy Afonso is investigating the barriers and facilitators of the implementation of the orthopaedic residency programme, led by Dr Kebba Marena.

My time in The Gambia was both amazing and eye-opening. Gaining firsthand insight into how the health system functions was invaluable, and it was a real privilege to work with the dedicated individuals who help keep it running. The experience brought much of what we studied on the course to life, particularly regarding challenges the health care staff encounter and how these can impact their ability to deliver care.– Hannah Lavy, MSc in Global Health Student, King's College London
Meet the students carrying out their dissertations on PGME in The Gambia, in this short video.
Student projects like these, nested within our health systems strengthening programmes and in collaboration with our partners, provide us with real-time, high quality research findings to inform and shape the development of our work and respond to on-the-ground priorities and evidence. – Claire Horder, Health Systems Strengthening Lead, KGHP

Students will submit their dissertations in August 2025 when we will showcase the findings of these research projects. 

In this story

Claire Horder

Claire Horder

Health Systems Strengthening Lead, King’s Global Health Partnerships

Omar Gabriel Torres Valencia

Omar Gabriel Torres Valencia

Policy Advisor, King's Global Health Partnerships

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