Ellen Diego, M.D., Amoud University, July-August 2022

In 2017, Dr. Hodan J. Abdi founded the first Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Borama, Somaliland to address a growing need for basic resuscitation and essential newborn care in preventing neonatal deaths. Since its foundation, the NICU has been staffed by Family Medicine (FM) Residents and Faculty trained at Amoud University.

To continue programmatic growth and development, the FM Faculty sought out collaboration with US-based Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine sub-specialty trained physicians. In July of 2022, Dr. Ellen Diego, UMN neonatologist traveled to Borama Regional Hospital to deliver a comprehensive in-country educational training program to strengthen the core residency curriculum in the care of small and sick babies.

The curriculum incorporated a combination of lecture-based and simulation-based education sessions to standardize provision of care at birth and identify gaps in best practice. Throughout the training sessions, the FM Residents developed their skills in quality improvement methodology and identified high rates of admission hypothermia, low rates of hand hygiene, absence of delayed cord clamping and ineffective non-invasive ventilation delivery as targeted areas for change. These gaps will be the focus of ongoing quality improvement initiatives that will be implemented as the University of Minnesota and Amoud University continue to collaborate to reduce site-specific and regional neonatal mortality.