As Sweden's support to research in Uganda comes to a close, we interviewed Dr. Grace Kobusinge on how Uganda's health systems can benefit from the research conducted so far. This is what she had to share with us.
Congratulations on the completion of your PhD program and thank you for being a part of our interview. As we start, can you tell us about who you are and what you do?
Let me first thank you for sparing time to have an interview with me. I am Grace Kobusinge, a child of God and a lecturer at Makerere University, Uganda. I am an informatics specialist with interest in solving societal challenges through informatics. This cuts across all sectors, for example, using informatics to solve challenges within the health sector, education, finance and many others.
Tell us about where you work.
I work at Makerere University located in the capital city - Kampala of Uganda. Makerere University is one of the oldest and most prestigious Universities in Africa that will soon celebrate 100 years of existence. The University is committed to providing transformative and innovative teaching, learning, research and services responsive to dynamic national and global needs.
Tell us about your PhD program. What was your research about?
I realized that when patients go for care at a new health facility, their previous medical records are not available to their health workers. This presented a problem, as the provision of health care depends highly on a patient’s previous health records. In Uganda, each health center keeps its own records and uses their own systems, that do not talk to each other. There is therefore a need to implement health information systems that can share and exchange patient records at the points of care.
Faced with challenges of accessing patient history at the point of care, I ventured into investigating how health information systems could be designed as interoperable. Health information systems are said to be interoperable if they can share and exchange required patient information to advance patient treatment. My approach to this problem will bring the Ministry of Health and system developers together to see how they can work together to have all the different systems at various health centers working together.
So, in my PhD I looked at how a “Managing as Designing” (MaD) approach could be applied to make these health systems talk to each other. Through the proposed MaD approach, healthcare managers would be encouraged to collaborate with system designers and developers to enhance the implementation of health information systems that meet overall healthcare interoperability objectives.
How do you think your PhD program will benefit Uganda as a country?
The Ministry of Health is interested in the implementation of health information systems (HIS) that can talk to each other (interoperable). The proposed approach in my study seeks to encourage collaboration of systems designers and Ministry of Health authorities in the promotion of HIS interoperability. I therefore, intend to visit the Ministry and showcase my research to them in order to have a buy in from the Government of Uganda.
I also intend to continue my research in this area. In this way, Uganda would benefit from my gained knowledge as we look at local systems that can talk to each other and thereby have a complete set of information about the patient when they are seeking healthcare.
Has your PhD helped you in the advancement of your career?
Before I started my PhD research, I was an Assistant Lecturer at Makerere University, where I would teach, supervise and examine undergraduate students. Now I am not only teaching but carrying out research as well. Having completed my Ph.D studies, I anticipate promotion to the position of Lecturer, which will increase the number of female lecturers within the faculty. Completing my research has now enabled me to teach and supervise masters’ students as well.
Are you involved in any research network, local or international?
As a PhD student, I was part of an international network called the Association of Information Systems (AIS). I hope the College of Computing and Information Science at Makerere University could consider registering a local association that is similar to this one, which could be cheaper for researchers to register under.
I hope to continue building collaborations through the Development Informatics Group and Health Informatics Group as well, with the help of my principal investigator. I also plan to maintain a close relationship with Gothenburg University through my supervisor.
Do you believe your expertise from your PhD program will benefit Makerere University?
Definitely. Makerere University is a research-led institution and I believe it will benefit from my gained expertise from the PhD program as I continue to engage in research.
How will your research work impact your sector in Uganda?
Having specialized in health informatics, I will use my gained experience from the informatics discipline to contribute to potential improvements within the health sector, most especially in the implementation of interoperable health information systems. I hope that this research shall lead to the development of a country wide system for healthcare that will assist medical workers in treating patients.
Was your program under the sandwich model? Which University in Sweden were you under?
My PhD program was conducted under the sandwich model, where I spent some time undertaking my research at Gothenburg University.
What challenges did you face while pursuing your doctorate?
Thank you for this concern, they were a number of challenges I experienced, which included; the separation from my family, the challenging weather in Sweden, the tight-PhD program, and other COVID-19 related challenges.
What have you learned from your exposure to other ways of working?
While in Sweden, I realized that there was a different system of reviewing research and giving feedback to the researchers. In Sweden, they prioritized giving and receiving constructive feedback in a calm and good way.
I was also given the opportunity to review the research of more senior researchers as well. In Sweden, the more senior a researcher is, the more humble they are. This taught me to be more accommodative. Panels in Uganda used to be tougher than those in Sweden, but things are starting to change. Supervisor-student relationships in Sweden are more mature, with discussions being held more like colleagues discussing with each other. Supervisors look at students like they are staff, which is good. I hope that through this experience, I can start regular meetings and seminars for feedback in Makerere University.
I hope to also bring back the culture of not taking too much time to review student’s progress with a closer interaction as their supervisor.
Aside from your academic achievement, have you been able to benefit from the support you received from Sweden in any other way?
Definitely, I have been able to create a network of friends both professionally and socially, this will enhance my future international collaborations as I advance in my career.
What next now that your research is complete?
First and foremost, I thank God that this endeavor came to an end. I am very excited to have completed my PhD program. Alongside my university schedules, I look forward to engaging in action research that will lead to observed changes in society, most especially in health informatics.
Do you have anything else you would like to share with us?
Yes, I do. I thank you for this interview and for taking time to listen to my research interests. I thank Sida for the scholarship and for the opportunity that was offered to me to pursue my studies from Sweden. Please convey my heartfelt gratitude to the entire Sida fraternity.
Compiled by Andrew Byaruhanga, Communications Officer, Embassy of Sweden in Kampala
