Answering the Questions - KHI

Kigali Health Institute - KHI - http://www.khi.ac.rw/

Vision: “To be a centre of excellence in training and development of health professionals”

Mission: “To train and improve the capacity of health workers”

Background:

"The challenges of providing health services globally are numerous and in Africa they are even intimidating. This arises from the fact that Africa is home to most of the least developed countries of the world with serious shortage of resources in all sectors of the economy. In the case of Rwanda, the war and genocide of 1994 created a critical shortage of health workers to deal with the ordinary and ensuing health problems. The Government of Rwanda, through the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, therefore responded to this challenge by establishing the Kigali Health Institute on 5th June, 1996. The status of the institute was later ratified through an Act of Parliament No 07/2002 of 22nd February, 2002. The institute thus became a semi-autonomous organisation with the two ministries as major stakeholders."

Types of Programs:

1. Allied Health Services comprising departments of:
   Physiotherapy;
   Anaesthesia;
   Dentistry;
   Laboratory;
   Radiology; and
   Ophthalmology.
   
2. Nursing Sciences comprising departments of:
   General Nursing;
   Midwifery; and
   Mental Health.
   
3. Community Health Development comprising departments of:
   Environment Health Sciences.

Medical Imaging Sciences offered through KHI:

• Radiologic Technology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Therapy
• Sonography (In planning)

"The department of Medical Imaging Sciences is part of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences.It is important to note that since the existence of the country, there has never been a school for Radiology training and Medical Imaging Technology particularly. Moreover, alarming is the shortage of qualified personnel in that field. There were five qualified radiological technologists and four medical radiologists across the national territory after the 1994 tragic events."

"Hence, in a bid to respond to the above-mentioned challenge the Ministries of Education and Health combined efforts to establish, in 1997, Kigali Health Institute (K.H.I) in which there was a department of Radiology.Established in 1999 as the department of Radiology, three years after the commencement of the Institute, the department’s name changed to the Department of Medical Imaging Sciences (Radiography) in 2003 to better reflect the emphasis on scientific investigations and its future development of a wide range of medical radiation field."

Language:

"Both French and English languages are used as languages of instruction in schools, in particular in institutions of higher learning. Candidates from secondary schools who are admitted in KHI are expected to possess either English or French skills. It is rare, however, to find candidates who possess necessary skills in both languages to cope with university education requirements. In addition, KHI academic staff speak either French or English and therefore give lectures in either language. Again, very few can give lectures in both languages. It is from this background that KHI created the Department of Languages. "