PEN-Plus Providers in Zimbabwe Receive Cardiac Training

Graduates of the cardiac training workshop in Zimbabwe gather with their mentors, including Medson Boti, an advanced NCD clinical officer at Partners In Health Malawi (sixth from left), who led the training; Dr. Alvern Mutengerere, project manager for noncommunicable diseases at SolidarMed, one of two PEN-Plus implementing partners in Zimbabwe (second from left); Dr. Sheila Klassen, technical lead of the NCDI Poverty Network’s Cardiac Expert Group (fifth from left); and Dr. Colin Pfaff, a regional advisor for the NCDI Poverty Network (fifth from right).

In May, eight PEN-Plus providers in Zimbabwe received initial training in performing and interpreting echocardiograms. Those eight providers—along with seven others—were also trained in managing heart failure.

Dr. Sheila Klassen (left), technical lead of the NCDI Poverty Network’s Cardiac Expert Group, helped Medson Boti, an advanced NCD clinical officer at Partners In Health Malawi, lead the training workshop.

The training began with two weeks of mixed didactic training and hands-on clinical practice and concluded with a two-day community screening event. Of the 130 individuals screened, those with findings indicative of a heart condition, diabetes, or hypertension were enrolled in PEN-Plus or a local health center as appropriate. The three new PEN-Plus clinics in Zimbabwe—Ndanga, Mashoko, and Masvingo—are now equipped to diagnose and treat advanced cardiac conditions.

Medson Boti, an advanced NCD clinical officer at Partners In Health Malawi, led the training. Boti is a master trainer with four years of experience caring for people living with NCDs in the PEN-Plus clinic in Neno.

“Training and ongoing mentorship play a huge part in the success of the PEN-Plus model,” said Dr. Sheila Klassen, technical lead of the NCDI Poverty Network’s Cardiac Expert Group. “Medson did an excellent job leading the training exercises. His success in teaching new PEN-Plus providers shows that the training system—which develops clinicians with advanced NCD experience into master trainers—is working.”