Family medicine in Ethiopia: Lessons from a global collaboration

Background: building the capacity of local health systems to provide high-quality,self-sustaining medical education and health care is the central purpose for many global health partnerships (ghps). since 2001,our global partner consortium collaborated to establish family medicine in ethiopia; the first ethiopian family physicians graduated in february 2016. methods: the authors,representing the primary ethiopian,canadian,and american partners in the ghp,identified obstacles,accomplishments,opportunities,errors,and observations from the years preceding residency launch and the first 3 years of the residency. results: common themes were identified through personal reflection and presented as lessons to guide future ghps. lesson 1: promote family medicine as a distinct specialty. lesson 2: avoid gaps,conflict,and redundancy in partner priorities and activities. lesson 3: building relationships takes time and shared experiences. lesson 4: communicate frequently to create opportunities for success. lesson 5: engage local leaders to build sustainable,long-lasting programs from the beginning of the partnership. conclusions: ghps can benefit individual participants,their organizations,and their communities served. engaging with numerous partners may also result in challenges - conflicting expectations,misinterpretations,and duplication or gaps in efforts. the lessons discussed in this article may be used to inform ghp planning and interactions to maximize benefits and minimize mishaps.