Certificate of Competence in Foundational Spirometry short course and Spirometry Quality Assurance workshop
Report by Lindsay Zurba of Spirometry Training Services Africa
Professor Falade and his team from the Ibadan University College Hospital hosted the first of eight planned spirometry training initiatives for each of the 10 Lung Health in Africa across the life course (LuLi) sites in Africa from the 26th – 28th June in Ibadan.
18 participants enjoyed a 3 day Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS) Certificate of Competence in Foundational spirometry training in the theory and practical application, measurement and interpretation of spirometry. Participants joined from the University College hospital of Ibadan, Delta State University Teaching Hospital - Oghara, UDUS/UDUTH - Sokoto, General Hospital Omu-aran -Kwara State and the LuLi research team. This was the perfect opportunity not only to upskill the research team in readiness to produce high quality spirometry in the upcoming research project, but also to empower and encourage medical professionals across Nigeria in the use of spirometry in practice.
First Spirometry Quality Assurance Workshop
The foundational training was followed and complimented by our first ever 1-day spirometry quality assurance workshop in which participants were taken through processes and exercises required to ensure only the highest quality spirometry results are used in research. It is exciting that new foundations for original and innovative quality assurance processes are being established as a guide for research sites in Africa.
Spirometry equipment
The spirometry equipment that was donated to IMPALA partners in Benin, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda has already started being put to good use. The one spirometer donated to Nigeria will be used by almost all 18 participants to complete their post training practical requirements.
Lack of equipment remains a major issue for the use of spirometry in Africa, so thanks go again to the European Respiratory Society for donation of spirometers which are used for training and loaned out to specific sites for specific projects.
Training spirometry trainers
During the course of the training two individuals expressed interest in becoming trainee trainers, this is a really positive indication that the pool of spirometry knowledge is growing in Nigeria.
It was rewarding that many participants who had been performing spirometry gained new skills to be able to standardise their diagnostic evaluation techniques. Those who had no prior skill learnt much during the training, demonstrating a new dawn of quality spirometry in Nigeria.
This work was supported by the MRC GCRF-funded project "Lung Health in Africa across the life course” (LuLi) [grant number MR/P022006/1]