Harare Breast Course for nurses

It is many years since I was last in Zimbabwe and it is just as lovely as I remember it being.  Sr Lieske and I arrived on Sunday and met up with Dr Anna Nyakabau as soon as we arrived.  We had a planning meeting and then spent a lovely evening at her house with her family.

Yesterday morning, we started our course.  We have about 40 nurses and the majority are from the oncology unit at Parirenyatwa Hospital. Other are from the school of nursing, NGOs, the Well woman clinic and the hospice.  The course is being held at the Bronte Hotel.

On day one, we spent time on the diagnosis of breast cancer.  We concentrated on clinical assessment of the breast and special investigations.  We were joined by Dr Miata Mvere, a radiologist who works at the Well Woman Clinic in Harare.

Primrose Mafunda and Dr Anna Nyakabau

Primrose Mafunda works with Dr Anna.  She helped Sr Lieske with all the organisation.

Our aim is to ensure the sustainability of our course.  As well as training the trainers, we need to train organisers and I am sure that Primrose will be able to run the next course we have in Harare: thank you.

Parirenyatwa Hospital

During the day, I had the privilege of visiting a mutidisciplinary ward round at Parirenyatwa Hospital.  It is always fascinating to hear how other groups are managing their patients within a resource constrained setting.

In the evening, the members of the oncology and surgical department joined Dr Nyakabau and me at the Bronte Hotel for a workshop

Students in Sr Lieke's group learning about the pitfalls of FNAs

A big thanks to our main sponsors Novartis who made the trip possible.