GE Healthcare, SORK pledge to help train technologists in Africa
GE Healthcare and the Society of Radiography in Kenya (SORK) pledged to train a minimum of 140 technologists as part of a partnership focused on improving overall efficiency. The partnership will “build on efforts to achieve universal healthcare through capacity building.”
“There is need to increase skillsets of healthcare workers, especially in radiography,” SORK Council President Kenneth Wangari said in a prepared statement. “Despite having qualified radiographers in the country, 90 percent of radiographers do not have certified specialty training. The recent upsurge in radiography equipment install base and an upward shift in technology on the equipment has also widened the training gap. To improve workflow efficiencies, there is need to improve radiographic equipment handling techniques. We are partnering with GE Healthcare to develop course material, curriculum, trainees and trainer’s manuals, lecture aids, simulations and webinars for online training as per applicable law and regulation.”
The trainees' curriculum will focus mainly on MRI and CT imaging, mammography, contrast imaging and radiotherapy. They will also be trained on radiation safety, management and leadership.The end goal of the program is for each technologist to improve so that costs can be reduced and the number of incorrect diagnoses can go down.
SORK will provide accreditation to participating technologists upon completion of the training program.
As a senior news writer for TriMed, Subrata covers cardiology, clinical innovation and healthcare business. She has a master’s degree in communication management and 12 years of experience in journalism and public relations.