Pathology Training for Cancer Diagnosis in Africa

Abstract

Objectives: In response to requests for training in cancer pathology, two virtual training courses were organized: one in English for participants in Nigeria and another in French for participants in Francophone Africa. Each course had weekly 90-minute sessions covering essential topics in cancer pathology led by global experts.

Methods: Two research questions were investigated for both courses: (1) did the participants improve their knowledge of the topics covered during the course, and (2) did the course participants appreciate the virtual training format?

Results: The Nigeria course enrolled 85 participants from 26 Nigerian states; the Francophone Africa course enrolled 425 participants from 18 African countries. In the pre-post technical assessment, participants increased their scores on average by 3.4% (P > .05) in the Nigeria course and by 13.1% (P < .001) in the Francophone Africa course. On the postcourse survey, 95.8% of Nigerian respondents and 96.1% of Francophone African respondents reported being satisfied or very satisfied with the virtual format.

Conclusions: Virtual training is a promising tool to improve cancer diagnosis in Africa, as the experience of the courses illustrates that participants appreciate the virtual format. Continued training is required to reinforce skills and enable participants to appropriately apply new knowledge to their daily practice.

Keywords: Africa; Cancer; Education; Nigeria; Pathology; Virtual.