Advancing skills to Radiographers for Delivering Cardiac Magnetic Resonance in Kampala, Uganda using Abbreviated Protocols

Motivation: Recently, a project initiated by Barts Heart Centre and the Uganda Heart Institute, and supported by the UCT and Siemens, delivered a successful collaborative training program to initiate cardiac CMR services in Uganda. Goal(s): The goal was to provide a foundational understanding of CMR tailored to the clinical context of Uganda. Approach: Focus was on practical and cost-effective approaches to integrate CMRI into local healthcare services, with a particular emphasis on abbreviated protocols. Results: We demonstrated that we could deliver a successful teaching program to local radiographers by utilizing abbreviated protocols. With correct training, it only took 20 minutes to complete a scan. Impact: We successfully scanned 16 patients with an approximate scanning time for the abbreviated protocol of 20 minutes. Ten radiographers were trained during live scanning by introducing innovative teaching techniques and preparing them for independent patient scanning and dealing with challenges.