All our training programs are designed to help laboratory personnel acquire and update the skills they need to do their jobs effectively.
For professionals, we help develop and support clinical biology training curricula. Each year, several types of scholarships provide healthcare personnel with the opportunity to obtain a Biology degree (Bachelor, DES, Master, short training in maintenance).
We support ongoing training of laboratory staff and create specific modules designed with input from the network’s experts. Our skills development program includes 14 modules on biosafety, data management, diseases with epidemic potential, biochemistry, hematology and other topics.
These modules, which are available in the three official ECOWAS languages – French, English and Portuguese.
RESAOLAB has a network of more than 200 instructors who have been trained as trainers in engineering, teaching techniques, and the skills development program.
Building and renovating facilities to house laboratory directorates and training centers for lab technicians is essential to provide the best learning conditions. The centers that have been built and renovated by the program provide lab technicians with optimal training facilities (classrooms, multimedia rooms, practical training areas).
RESAOLAB has helped the EPAC (Ecole Polytechnique Abomey Calavi) school in Cotonou to develop a program to teach technicians how to maintain basic equipment in biomedical laboratories.
The Mérieux Foundation, through RESAOLAB, the European Commission Project P48 put in place by Expertise France, and the REDISSE project, has already provided support to organize 4 training sessions, attended by laboratory professionals from across the sub-region.
As part of RESAOLAB’s phase 3, the Mérieux Foundation wanted to enhance the value of this unique training in the sub-region by conducting a survey of the trainees. The results of the survey made it possible to assess the level of mobilization of skills by the participants after having followed the training and to measure its contribution to the national maintenance systems.
Experts and human resource development managers organize national and regional workshops in the 7 RESAOLAB countries. Workshops are designed to reach consensus on how to implement the West African Health Organization (WAHO) regional directives and national training plans.
Since 2021, the Mérieux Foundation and the Institut Pasteur in Dakar have been organizing the Advanced Diagnostic Course in French on the African Continent (Afro-ACDx). This program is aimed at directors and managers of diagnostic laboratories, as well as officials involved in public health diagnostic decision-making in Africa. The objective is to improve leadership skills and promote the role and value of diagnostics.
RESAOLAB enables healthcare professionals to benefit from Afro-ACDx training through scholarships awarded to participants from network countries. To better understand the impact of the training on participants, a valorization study was conducted based on questionnaires distributed to all participants and more in-depth discussions with RESAOLAB scholarship recipients.
The study showed that the activities implemented by participants upon their return from training generated visible changes in collective practices, both among participants and their teams. The course strengthened participants’ self-efficacy, helping them develop a better perception of their abilities to positively influence their professional practices and to propose initiatives impacting team management and laboratory organization.
Helping to develop trained and qualified laboratory professionals