The Department of Paediatrics and Child Health was established in 1967 at the inception of the Medical School. The Department’s main responsibility then was to provide relevant undergraduate training that would enable graduates to adequately manage common paediatric and child health problems.
In 1973, a postgraduate training programme was launched, prompted by the need to have locally trained specialists in the field of Paediatrics and Child Health. Such locally trained specialists were to be equipped with knowledge and critical clinical skills relevant to the care of local health problems, provide leadership of clinical paediatric and child health services, and be involved in training and research. The present Paediatric Post-graduate training is based on instructional objectives in Paediatrics and Child health that were first drawn up in 1973 and progressively reviewed in-house over the years as new challenges in the field have emerged.
Past graduates of the MMED Paediatrics and Child Health have functioned well as clinicians, administrators, international policy makers, academics and researchers. Collectively they have greatly influenced Child Health in Kenya and globally. A lot has changed in the science and care of children round the world with increased clarification of evidence based practices that reduce child deaths and improve the quality of life.
There are new benchmarks on the different roles beyond the medical expert such as to be expert communicators, collaborators, managers, health advocates, scholars and professionals. There is also a shift from traditional approaches to increased incorporation of competency based training and evaluation.
Attached is the history as written by Prof Nimrod Bwibo, the first Kenyan chair of the department of Paediatrics and Child Health.
