PATS MECOR

The Pan African Thoracic Society – Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical and Operations Research (PATS-MECOR) course was started in 2007 and ran annually in Blantyre, Malawi in 2007, 2008 and 2009. It is planned to hold the 2010 course in Kenya.

The course was initiated by Dr Stephen Gordon of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and funded by a 5-year grant from the Nuffield Foundation and is based on the successful American Thoracic Society (ATS) MECOR programme It is designed for pulmonary clinicians, investigators, and academicians to provide training in research methods.

There are 3 levels of the course available and further details of these can be obtained at:

http://www.thoracic.org/global-health/mecor-courses/index.php

In 2007 there were 16 Level 1 students, in 2008 there were 17 Level 1 and 9 Level 2 students, and in 2009 there were 13 Level 1, 13 Level 2 and 8 Level 3 students. It is anticipated that the course will be capped at Level 3. The students are drawn from all over Africa and the faculty come from Africa, the UK and the USA.

“The beneficiaries will be the health care professionals who study on the courses, the institutions and students with whom the MECOR graduates will subsequently carry out research work and the public who will benefit from the proper description of the burden of disease in Africa. Ultimately, detailed knowledge of the burden of respiratory disease in sub-Saharan Africa will provide impetus to focused health care interventions in the region.”
Dr Stephen Gordon