Empowerment through education and training: Improving the quality of care for those living with disabilities in the Dominican Republic

More than one billion people in the world live with some form of disability, yet access to high quality rehabilitative services is severely limited for many of those living in the developing world. Building the capacity of in-country healthcare professionals to provide quality care within their own country is essential to narrowing the gap in appropriate services and treatment. Since 2001 Physicians for Peace has been addressing this need by providing training and education to rehabilitative healthcare professionals in collaboration with in-country partners in the Dominican Republic. Through the evolution of the partnerships, an existing gap in quality prosthetic and orthotic (P&O) education and services was identified and a corresponding training and education initiative commenced. This localized training was provided to Dominican healthcare professionals at the partner organization, Asociación Dominicana de Rehabilitación (ADR), by volunteer International Medical Educators (IMEs). In 2010, PFP and ADR collaborated to provide access to an internationally recognized P&O distance-learning certification program for student technicians, the first of its kind in the country. Supplemental hands-on training was conducted by PFP IMEs alongside each of the distance-learning modules. This model of integrating a distance-learning curriculum, with consistent and supportive hands-on training will result in the scheduled graduation of the first class of student technicians in the summer of 2013. Lessons-learned from this model will pave the way for the adaptation of similar initiatives in various areas of the world where these educational and training gaps may also exist.