Malawi College of Physicians first intake June

Malawi College of Physicians (Macop) has been officially launched and it is targeting to have its first intake this coming June.

College president Tamara Phiri said the college is almost ready with preparations.

“We expect to have our first intake by June. Those enrolled are expected to undergo four-year degree programmes,” she said during the college’s launch in Lilongwe on Friday.

The college, a non-campus based, will be targeting already established medical workers who want to specialise as physicians, Phiri  said.

“Much of the lessons will be delivered online. Added to that, lecturers will be delivering lectures in health facilities where the enrolled students are working. Our main targets are already established medical personnel and graduates  that have finished internships,”  she said.

Chief of health services in the Ministry of Health Charles Mwansambo hoped that the college will address the shortage of medical specialists in the country.

“This college is critical to our health sector because we have a shortage of specialised doctors,” he said.

The college is a brainchild of the East, Central and Southern Africa College of Physicians (Ecsacop), which was formed in 2015 and operates in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Evarist Njelesani, Ecsacop president, observed that most countries where his organisation works have critical shortages of doctors and well-trained specialists.