Table 1.

Strengths of family medicine development in Ethiopia

National

• Advancement of Ethiopia’s health care is a priority for the country.

• There is a strong support from the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health for expansion of family medicine training programs in Ethiopia.

• The Federal Ministry of Health is helping in recruiting residents into family medicine.

• The ongoing expansion of medical student numbers across the country will increase the pool of applicants for all residency program expansions including family medicine.

• The first family medicine residency program is successfully established.

• The Federal Ministry of Health is supporting expansion of family medicine to Jimma and Gondar Universities.

• Family medicine is developing in Ethiopia in the context of family medicine developing in other African countries legitimizing family medicine across Africa.

• Ethiopia’s health extension workers program is praised internationally and the envy of many African countries.

• There are new health centers that are being built around Addis Ababa with improved capacity for diagnosis and treatment.

Institutional

• The Addis Ababa University College of Health Sciences and the dean of the Addis Ababa University Medical School are very supportive of family medicine.

• There is support for the Addis Ababa University family medicine program from international partners from the University of Toronto, the University of Wisconsin, and the Medical Education Partnership Initiative program.

• Some of the graduating family medicine specialists have become faculty at Addis Ababa University.

• Jimma University has >30 years of community engagement experience positioning it well for future development of family medicine residency program.

Program

• There is support from core specialists including internal medicine, pediatrics, and psychiatry who are involved in training of family medicine residents at Addis Ababa University.

• The Addis Ababa University’s family medicine residency program director believes in the vision of the program.

• Curriculum and objectives of the Addis Ababa University’s family medicine residency program are outlined and revised based on residents’ experiences.

• The Addis Ababa University family medicine program includes training in multiple hospitals around Addis Ababa and in a community health center.

• The current Addis Ababa University’s family medicine residents are very committed to the specialty.