High-quality obstetric care is a critical factor in reducing maternal and newborn deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa, but local barriers like the availability of training materials, licensing costs and unreliable Internet access can prevent incoming obstetricians and gynecologists (Obgyns) and midwives from being trained with the best educational materials available.

[Photo: Dr. Frank Anderson]

Now, providers and students in low-resource countries will have access to high-quality academic learning and teaching materials through a new collection created by the University of Michigan’s 1000+ OBGYNs Project—a network of American and African universities preparing to train more than 1,000 new Obgyns in the region in 10 years.

Through a grant from the World Bank, the U-M Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology developed additional collections to specifically support graduate medical education for OBGYNs in sub-Saharan Africa. Through this collaboration, the 1000+ OBGYN Project was able to effectively draw upon existing open educational resources from Michigan, Ghana, Ethiopia, and other medical schools around the world and to review, curate, and organize them for a learner audience of OBGYN residents.

The four new collections cover a diverse range of subjects, including abnormal uterine bleeding, pregnancy complications, vaginal surgeries, pelvic masses, newborn care, postpartum care and family planning. All materials are publicly available, free and licensed for students, teachers and practitioners to copy and modify to suit their curricular context within their own institutions.

“There is an urgent need to train Obgyns in sub-Saharan Africa, but their institutions don’t always have access to the same body of educational materials as doctors in developed countries have,” says Dr. Frank Anderson, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the U-M Medical School and director of the 1000 + OBYGN Project.

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