“Our Assembly Hall Could Hardly Accommodate All Those Interested”: Advancing Kidney Care in Uzbekistan Through the ISN Educational Ambassadors Program
ISN Educational Ambassador, Dr. Aimun Ahmed, demonstrates puncture kidney biopsy as part of the week-long training program he gave at the RSSMPC of Nephrology and Transplantation in March 2023
“Our Assembly Hall Could Hardly Accommodate All Those Interested”: Advancing Kidney Care in Uzbekistan Through the ISN Educational Ambassadors Program
Find out how the ISN Educational Ambassadors Program could benefit your healthcare center here.
ISN Educational Ambassador, Dr. Aimun Ahmed, consultant nephrologist in the Renal Department at the Royal Preston Hospital, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, Lancashire, UK, spent one week providing training at the Republican Specialised Scientific Medical Centre (RSSMPC) of Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation, Tashkent, Uzbekistan in March 2023, with support from the ISN Educational Ambassadors Program (EAP).
The training program comprised lectures and hands-on workshops on transplantation and chronic kidney disease (CKD) and glomerular disease detection and management. The main objective of the educational program presented by the ISN Educational Ambassador was to help the kidney care team at RSSMPC to advance in best practices and techniques in nephrology to further the development of new services for living kidney donation and interventional nephrology.
According to Dr. Olimkhon Sharapov from the RSSMPC, the training was highly relevant to their center as transplantation is now beginning to develop rapidly in the country since resuming in 2017 after a lengthy ban. Transplantation legislation was introduced in 2022. Last year, around 300 kidney transplants were performed in the country.
The center in Tashkent is the republic’s leading kidney transplantation center. A new transplant building is planned to open by the end of 2023, which is expected to significantly increase the number of operations carried out. The EAP training has positively impacted the practical activities of the center’s specialists; newfound knowledge and skills have been implemented in daily practice. The training program has also helped the early detection of kidney pathologies and increased the medical staff’s awareness of CKD.
In addition to the staff at the RSSMPC of Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation, the training benefitted healthcare professionals from the Department of Nephrology and Hemodialysis at the Tashkent Pediatric Medical Institute and the Department of Nephrology, Hemodialysis and Transplantation at the Tashkent Institute for Postgraduate Medical Education. More than 100 people participated in the training program daily, including nephrologists and other healthcare professionals from different parts of the country and neighboring Tajikistan. Dr. Sharapov reported, “The training aroused unusual interest among all categories of listeners; even our assembly hall could hardly accommodate all those interested.”
The kidney care team at RSSMPC plan to re-use the training information for in-center CME courses and within other departments. The educational material will benefit the many students, residents, fellows, and postgraduate students that visit the center.
The Renal Department at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals will continue to coach, support and link with the renal Centre in Tashkent through online CME teaching sessions for up to three hours per week.
Dr. Sharapov concluded, “ISN support, ambassador level, and audience interest were higher than expected. Even the weather was perfect! A huge thank you to the ISN and the ISN Ambassador for the wonderful training!”
