CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMMES

COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

The College of Medicine (CoM) was established in 1991 as a constituent college of the University of Malawi with a mission “to be an academic centre of excellence in the training of doctors and other health professionals in clinical service and medical research, responsive to the health needs of Malawi and its neighbours within the Southern African region”. Through postgraduate training, CoM will develop and mentor clinicians, public health practitioners and scientists who will become leaders and game-changers in their areas of speciality to transform the health sector in Malawi and globally.  In pursuit of its mission, the CoM is inviting applications from suitably qualified candidates to undergo training in the following postgraduate programs:

A.   Masters in Medicine (MMed)

These are 4-year medical specialty training programs in the following areas:

1. General Surgery
2. Internal Medicine
3. Ophthalmology
4. Orthopaedics
5. Paediatrics and Child Health
6. Anaesthesia
7. Psychiatry
8. Obstetrics and Gynaecology
9. Family Medicine
10. Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT)
11. Emergency Medicine

Scholarships:  With funding from several agencies, highly competitive scholarships are available for applicants interested in the following specialties; General Surgery, Trauma and Orthopaedics, ENT, Ophthalmology, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Family Medicine, and Internal Medicine. Those interested in Family Medicine please visit this website: http://sphfm.medcol.mw/mph/family-medicine

Admission Requirements

1. Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) or its equivalent from any recognized university
2. Proof of registration and a letter of good standing with the Medical Council of Malawi as a Medical Practitioner
3. One year post-internship clinical work experience

The CoM receives applications all year round. However, the deadline for receiving applications is 31^st December 2019for the MMed admissions scheduled for 1^st April 2020. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews to be conducted End January 2020.

B.   Clinical Fellowships

These are 5 years surgical specialty training programs offered by College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA). The first 2 years of the training programme are common to all surgical subspecialties leading to a membership qualification, MCS. The subsequent 3 years are subspecialty specific leading to a fellowship qualification, FCS in the following areas:

1. General Surgery
2. Trauma and Orthopaedics
3. Ear Nose and Throat (ENT)
4. Plastic Surgery
5. Paediatric Surgery
6. Neurosurgery
7. Urology

Fellowship training programs in General surgery and Orthopaedics will be conducted at either Kamuzu Central Hospital or Queen Elizabeth Central hospital, while ENT, Paediatric Surgery, neurosurgery and Plastic Surgery will only be conducted at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. Urology is offered at Kamuzu Central Hospital only. With funding from the Norwegian Government training scholarships are available for those who are successfully enrolled into the COSECSA programmes.

Admission Requirements

1. Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) or its equivalent from any recognized university
2. Proof of registration and a letter of good standing with the Medical Council of Malawi as a Medical Practitioner
3. One year post-internship clinical work experience

The CoM receives applications all year round. COSECSA candidates New MCS and FCS trainee’s registration deadline should strictly be December, 31^st 2019 for the 2020 training year, and then next year move it up to October, 31^st for the coming years.  This is to allow the trainees to start the training program in the first week of January as per the requirements of the new curriculum.

 Master in Public Health (MPH)

This is a 2-year block-release program. The degree provides a general course conferring generic competencies. The program also provides to applicants a choice to concentrate in special interest areas of Health Management, Bioethics, Epidemiology, Reproductive Health, Nutrition or Health Informatics. Students may graduate with a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health if they complete all coursework BUT do not submit a dissertation or obtain a failing grade for the dissertation.

Admission Requirements

1. Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject (e.g. medicine, nursing, social sciences,

psychology, environmental health) from any recognized university

2. At least two years of work experience in a relevant field is desirable
3. Research experience or scientific publications are desirable
4. Candidates interested in health informatics should have experience in information technology and have to indicate this area of interest on the application form.

The College receives applications all year round. However, for the August 2020 intake we will only consider applications received before the end of 31^st December 2019.

C.             Master of Science in Epidemiology

This is a 2-year block-release degree program, which consists of core modules in basic and advanced epidemiology and biostatistics, disease control, research ethics, data management and integrity. Students are allowed to choose elective modules from a wide variety of disease and health programs specific modules (e.g. TB, malaria, HIV, nutrition, bioethics). Lastly students are required to complete a research dissertation. Students may alternatively graduate with a Postgraduate Diploma in Epidemiology if they complete all coursework BUT do not submit a dissertation.

Admission Requirements:

1. A Bachelor degree (or equivalent qualifications) in a relevant science subject (e.g. medicine, nursing, biology, physics, mathematics, statistics, social sciences, psychology, environmental health) from any recognised university or
2. A Postgraduate Diploma in Epidemiology (or its equivalent qualifications approved by the University) attained not less than a year preceding the application

The College receives applications all year round. However, for the August 2020 intakes we will only consider applications received before the end of 31^st December 2019.

D.             Master of Science in Global Health Implementation

This is a 2-year block-release program, which adopts a multidisciplinary approach that integrates health and social science perspectives to analyse, design, implement and evaluate health programmes and policies. It consists of core modules in Global Health Principles and Practices; Health Economics and Financing; Global Environmental Health and Climate justice; Implementation Science; Program Design Implementation and Evaluation; Ethics and Human Rights; Global Economic Governance and Health Diplomacy; Comparative Health Systems. Students are allowed to choose elective modules from a selected disease and health programs specific modules. Lastly students are required to complete a research dissertation. Students may alternatively graduate with a Postgraduate Diploma in Global Health Implementation if they complete all coursework but do not submit a dissertation or obtain a failing grade for the dissertation.

Admission Requirements:

1. A Bachelor degree (or equivalent qualifications approved by the University) in a relevant science subject (e.g. medicine, nursing, biology, physics, mathematics, statistics, social sciences, psychology, environmental health) from any recognised university.

This program is ran in Blantyre and Mangochi college campuses. The College receives applications all year round. However, for the August 2020 intakes we will only consider applications received before the end of 31^st December, 2019.

E.             Master of Science (Antimicrobial Stewardship)

This is a 2-year full research or online MSc programme for aspiring biomedical scientists, social scientists or health practitioners interested to pursue a career in the broad area of antibiotic stewardship and conservation, with specific interest in Medicine, Pharmacy, Pharmacology, Epidemiology, Laboratory Sciences, Nursing and Social Science.

Candidates will be supervised by specialist faculty from the University of Malawi. Candidates for on-line MSc will spend at least 18 months undertaking online coursework. However upon successful completion of two semesterial modules learners will conduct a research project. The research project is meant to be completed in one academic year. Details of this programme are available on the CoM website (www.medcol.mw)

Admission Requirements

1. At least a credit/second class Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject from any recognized university
2. At least two years of work experience in a relevant field is essential
3. Prior Research experience or scientific publications is desirable

Suitably qualified individuals should indicate, in their application letter, their preferred area of study. Limited scholarships (i.e. waiver of tuition fees and support for material costs) are available, particularly for female students and students living with disabilities.

The CoM receives applications all year round. However, the deadline for receiving applications is 31^st December 2019for the MSc Antimicrobial Stewardship admissions scheduled for 19^th August 2019. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews to be conducted End March 2020.

F.             Master of Science in Bioinformatics

This is a 2-year MSc programme with course work in the first year and research in the second year. Field specialisation will be done in the second year based one’s research project. The programme is suitable for applicants with sciences background such as Computer Science, Mathematics, Biological Sciences, Laboratory Sciences, Medical Sciences, Statistics, Physics, Chemistry and any other relevant mathematical sciences discipline. MSc Bioinformatics graduates become experts to pursue careers in use and development of bioinformatics tools for storage and analysis large molecular biology datasets in research and medical institutions. Bioinformaticians also make excellent systems administrators or managers in an ICT environment. Details of this programme are available on the CoM website (www.medcol.mw)

Admission Requirements

1. Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject from any recognized university
2. Prior Research/work experience or scientific publications will be an added advantage

The deadline for receiving MSc applications is 31^st December 2019for admissions scheduled for September 2020.

G.             Master of Philosophy (MPhil) / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Program

These are postgraduate degree programs by research (2 years for MPhil; 3-4 years for PhD). Candidates may apply to be considered for (a) the University of Malawi PhD degree program or (b) the Joint College of Medicine-University of Liverpool PhD degree programs.

Admission Requirements

1. Masters degree in a relevant subject from any recognized university or;
2. A medical degree or its equivalent, or appropriate honours degree in the first or upper second division in a relevant discipline

Applicants are strongly advised to have preliminary discussions with the relevant Heads of academic departments at CoM or Project Directors to enable matching of prospective student to supervisors or research groups and to develop research concepts before submitting an application. Applicants without approved research concepts and/or supervisors will not be shortlisted.  Those applying for PhDs within the Department of Public Health should contact Dr Charles Mangani (hodpublichealth@medcol.mw) and are encouraged to visit the school website for potential supervisors on http://sphfm.medcol.mw/sphfm/.

The CoM accepts MPhil/PhD applications all year round but candidates can commence their studies on 1^st January, 1^st April, 1^st July and 1^st October each year.

Applications for all postgraduate programs should include:

1. A completed postgraduate application form. The forms are available at medcol.mw/application-forms/or CoM Central Registry
2. Sealed academic transcripts
3. Authenticated copies of academic certificates (by a lawyer, magistrate, or registrar of the awarding institution)
4. Authenticated copies of professional registration certificates where applicable
5. Letter of release from employers (if employed)
6. Proof of funding (e.g. sponsorship agreement letter). Where applicants intend to sponsor themselves, copies of appropriate financial records must be submitted e.g. bank reference.
7. Reference letters (one academic and one professional)

A non-refundable application fee of MK10000.00 for Malawians and $30.00 for non-Malawians.

Payment should be made to:

COM POSTGRADUATE POOL

NATIONAL BANK OF MALAWI

CHICHIRI BRANCH

ACCOUNT NUMBER : 698881

CURRENT ACCOUNT

Application forms that do not meet the requirements stated above will not be processed.

Completed application should be sent:

The Registrar

College of Medicine

Private Bag 360

Chichiri

Blantyre 3, Malawi

Attention: Assistant Registrar (Academic)

Tel: + 265 (0) 1 874 107, Fax +265 (0) 1 874 700

E-mail: admissions@medcol.mw

Copy: postgraduateadmin@medcol.mw