E-Health: Software Development and Implementation (EHSDI) is a training course developed by Partners in Health and now starting its 3rd year of implementation in Rwanda, where it is now being in partnership with the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). The goal of the course is to produce local software developers with the necessary knowledge and skills to develop electronic medical record software, specifically to develop modules for OpenMRS. The course is 9 months long (the first year was 11 months).
Stages
The course is divided into two stages - a training stage and a production stage. The training stage is the longer of the two (7 months), and it is designed to cover all of the required technologies for OpenMRS development, as well as give the students a foundation in medical informatics. The production stage (2 months) is when the students develop production quality modules for OpenMRS according to the requirements of the Ministry of Health and other partners.
Levels
The training stage is divided into two levels (1 and 2). Level 1 consists of IT foundations, basic Java programming and web design. It lasts approximately 2 months, and is equivalent to the probation period of many employers. Weak students, or those who do comply with the requirements of the program are asked to leave after probation period. Level 2 (5 months) consists of advanced and enterprise level Java programming, as well as specific OpenMRS implementation and development.
Units
The units generally consist of several weeks of teaching, followed by a project and a written exam. The medical informatics unit however, is dispersed throughout the year, and generally consists of one or two lectures per week.
EH101 |
Foundations |
2 |
Computer architecture and maintenance, OpenOffice and presentation skills |
|
EH102 |
Basic Java Programming |
4 |
Language syntax, algorithms and object-orient programming |
|
EH103 |
Web Design |
4 |
Building standards compliant web pages using XHTML, CSS, JavaScript and jQuery |
|
EH201 |
Advanced Java Programming |
5 |
Design patterns, regular expressions, multi-threading and JUnit testing |
|
EH202 |
OpenMRS Implementation |
4 |
Linux administration, Tomcat, MySQL, infrastructure issues and staff training |
|
EH203 |
Enterprise Java Programming |
6 |
J2EE application development using JSP, JSTL, JDBC and Hibernate |
|
EH204 |
OpenMRS Development |
4 |
OpenMRS module development using Spring and the OpenMRS API |
|
EH301 |
Medical Informatics |
- |
Medical data and coding, EMR systems, decision support systems, and pharmacy systems |
Accreditation
The course is the process of getting accreditation at KIST. It's expected that by 2012 the course will be a post-graduate certificate, and graduates of earlier years will be able apply for that certificate.