Importance of Train-the-Trainer Program, CORE Trainers and Their Trainees

What is train-the-trainer?

Train-the-Trainer is a term used for when people are trained in a skill to become a trainer themselves. In developing countries, when local people are trained to become trainers by overseas experts, it means that the reliance on the overseas group becomes less, because training can carry on whether the foreign partner is there or not. WAH started a medical train-the-trainer program in 20124, and we now have 20 trainers in Kampong Chhnang. Professor Kenneth Kwek, CEO KK women’s and children’s hospital, recommended we start a long term plan for sustainability, creating local trainers on the ground, who could carry out continuous medical training throughout the year without the need for KKH to be present. The Train-the-Trainer program consists of educating CORE Trainers (CORE means Common Obstetric and Resuscitation Emergencies) with the knowledge and competence to pass on their knowledge and skills. WAH’s and PHDKC’s 20 trainers are all active in helping train medical staff in the province, from midwife to paediatric training. With Covid-19, this program has proved to be invaluable. WAH has continued training despite the fact that neither KKH nor Mount Alvernia have been able to travel to Cambodia to carry our training.

Kind words from Prof Kwek

How Emergency medical training and train-the-Trainer Program work together?

When we started training the nurses and doctors in Kampong Chhnang with emergency medical training in paediatric and midwife care, we realised that for the long term sustainability of the medical training programs, we needed more qualified teachers on the ground, speaking Khmer, the local language. This is when Professor Kwek recommended that along with the new twice yearly training programs, carried out by KKH and more recently Mt. Alvernia, we would identify and train 20 nurses and midwives. We would give them the knowledge, skills, and instructions on how to explain each emergency procedure properly and pass on what they know to the next group of trainees. Today we are actively carrying out refresher training and running new programs for the younger medical staff who are benefitting from the training.

WHO IS A CORE TRAINER? (Common Obstetric and Resuscitation Emergencies)

Potential CORE trainers are identified by KKH, Mount Alvernia, PHDKC, and WAH during our semi annual training programs in both midwife and paediatric emergency care. Staff who show promise as trainers are put through a separate program to help them become proficient trainers. They are all from PHDKC, working in one of the 42 health centres and 3 hospitals in Kampong Chhnang. They all work with WAH when we run programs, backed by PHDKC.

OUR TRAINEES

In the last decade, we have been able to train a total of 300 midwives, nurses and doctors in the province. The level of empowerment and responsibility is extraordinary. Everyone is hungry to learn and acquire new skills, which they use in real life to save many lives.