Training Software Developers for Electronic Medical Records in Rwanda

In many developing countries, electronic medical record (EMR) systems are being implemented in resource-poor settings. Essential to such implementations are software developers with a high technical capacity, a good understanding of medical informatics and an awareness of local clinical needs. This paper describes a training program which has been run in Rwanda to enable local computer science graduates to play a significant role in that country's forthcoming implementation of a national EMR system. Such a training program is unique in that region of Africa and we discuss the challenges inherent in such an undertaking. We describe the development of the curriculum and the evolution of the teaching methodologies over the course of the year and discuss its potential integration with academic institutions in Rwanda. Finally we propose that training programs of this nature which produce local software developers who are familiar with medical informatics are a requirement for successful and sustainable eHealth implementations in the developing world.