The nurses home adjacent to the hospital set amongst the flame trees and frangipani at the top of Mita hill.

Nurses and midwives training school

Nurses provide primary health care and are a vital part of the health system in Tanzania. The nurses training school was established at Mvumi in 1943 and currently has places for 30 students per year Training is offered up to Grade B in general nursing after which graduates can study for a further year course in midwifery. After training many nurses have found employment in the hospital or gone on to study at other institutions.

Laboratory assistants provide the first rung on the ladder for those aspiring to be Assistant Medical Officers. Laboratory assistants are trained in Biochemistry, Microbiology and Parasitology and having graduated work in hospital diagnostic laboratories or rural dispensaries examining blood slides, faecal swabs and microbial cultures to diagnose the common diseases prevalent in Tanzania. The Laboratory Assistants Training School was established in 1963 and currently admits 20 to 30 students each year for the 2 year course. The course involves lectures and plenty of hands on experience in the busy Hospital Pathology Laboratory.

Students write out reports after checking blood slides in the hospital pathology laboratory.

 Clinical Officers Training School

After training as Laboratory Assistants many students go on to study as Clinical Assistants. Mvumi Hospital provides a two year upgrading course, which is open to students of any age provided they have obtained the necessary experience and qualifications. The hospital can take up to 35 students per year. Clinical Assistants provide much of the front line health care in Tanzania working in hospitals, running village dispensaries and health centres.

A student examines a patient in the eye department at Mvumi.

The ophthalmic assistants training school puts on short courses for specialist training of qualified nurses as Ophthalmic Assistants. There are three ten week courses per year with up to ten students per course. Special advanced and refresher courses (six weeks each) are put on when necessary and students come from all over Tanzania to attend.

The hospital technicians training school trains students in the maintenance and repair of hospital equipment. The school runs ten week foundation courses and advanced courses with up to ten students per course. The school has also recently started courses in motor vehicle maintenance. Further information about the school and its courses can be found here.