Jinja Regional Referral Hospital – (https://jinjahospital.go.ug/) is a government owned referral hospital that was first established in the 1930s’. The hospital is located in the South-Eastern part of Uganda and offers the whole range of health services except the super-specialized ones. The main hospital contains the neonatology unit while older children are managed at the Children’s Hospital in Nalufenya, which is annexed to Jinja Hospital. The hospital serves a population of 4.5 million in a catchment area comprising of 1 city and 11 districts. The pediatric hospital manages around 6500 admissions annually whereof many children have been referred from the surrounding facilities.

Jinja Regional Referral Hospital is designated as an Internship center, where graduates of Ugandan medical schools can undergo a year of internship under the supervision of consultants and specialists in the designated medical and surgical disciplines.

In addition to the pediatric in-patient wards, the hospital has got several pediatric outpatient clinics (cardiology, neurology, diabetes, nutrition).  Swedish residents work in the hospital under supervision of a Ugandan pediatrician and rotate between the neonatology unit, general pediatrics, pediatric emergency department and selected clinics.

Jinja Regional Referral Hospital is one of the collaborators in the regional partnership on child health between Jinja City and Region Stockholm with ongoing improvement projects in neonatology, pediatric emergency care, pediatric neurology, and child rights.

Clinical rotation for pediatric residents

Jinja Regional Referral Hospital is designated as an internship center, where graduates of Ugandan medical schools can spend a year of internship under the supervision of consultants and specialists in their designated medical and surgical disciplines.

As a resident pediatrician you will join the work at the pediatric wards at JRRH. You may choose to rotate between different wards and clinics, or you may choose to stay in your particular ward of interest during your entire stay. You will have a Ugandan pediatrican as your clinical supervisor and he/she will give you an introduction and help you with any questions or other difficulties. Although you will be under the supervision of a Ugandan pediatrician, most of your work will be fairly independent together with the Ugandan interns who run the wards. A big part of your day involves the teaching of nursing and medical students as well as the intern doctors. The Ugandan colleagues will also help you with translation, as some patients’ parents do not speak English. Generally, there is one intern doctor running the ward and the pediatrician (usually 1-2 on shift) rotate through multiple wards, meaning you will not have a senior present every day.

Since the fall of 2022 four pediatric residents from Karolinska University Hospital has had the opportunity to rotate at Nalufenya Childrens Hospital at JRRH.