REPORT ON IAEA/RCA REGIONAL TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR TRAINERS
ON DISTANT LEARNING PACKAGE ON TISSUE BANKING,

27 APRIL TO 8 MAY 1998

NUH Tissue Bank has just completed a mammoth task – the production of IAEA Distance Learning Package on Tissue Banking into Multi-Media. This was made possible by a grant of $225, 500 from the Singapore Government (National Science and Technology Board) for the construction of a purpose-built IAEA/NUS Regional Training Centre for Tissue Banking for RCA Member States (a Regional Co-operative Agreement of 15 countries including Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam), of which $100, 000 was allocated for Multi-Media production of IAEA Curriculum (written by National Project Co-ordinators from the region itself).

The task took 6 months to reach completion. The Package consisted of 9 Modules ranging from Guide to Curriculum, Historical Background, Rules and Regulations, Organisation, Quality Assurance, Procurement, Processing, Distribution and Utilisation to Future Developments. The draft written texts were printed into booklets after yet more editing. There were also Case Studies describing the practices peculiar to the region accompanied by illustrative slides. Most challenging were the production of videotapes made by Directors of Tissue Banks in the region demonstrating their own procurement and processing techniques and clinical transplantations. This involved editing these tapes into 20 minute versions, translations (Chinese, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia) into English, scripting and voicing over by professionals.

The final assembly was an impressive multi-media set of Modules in specially designed box folders. What a transformation from the earlier ring-binded drafts provided by IAEA! At the Opening Ceremony of the 2-week IAEA/RCA Regional Training Workshop for Trainers on Distance Learning Package on Radiation and Tissue Banking held at the NUH Training Centre, Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, Dean, Faculty of Medicine presented each delegate from 12 countries with a complete set on behalf of the Singapore Government.

During this ‘Training the Trainers’ Workshop, the National Project Co-ordinators, the ‘Trainers’ were familiarised with the useof the Multi-Media Curriculum developed by the NUH Tissue Bank. They are now better equipped to supervise their ‘Trainees’ who have registered as participants of the 1-year Open Distance learning NUS Diploma Course on Tissue Banking in November last year and also to conduct National Training Programmes to train para-medical and medical professionals in the field of tissue procurement and transplantation in their own countries on a larger scale.

Participants of IAEA/RCA Regional Training Workshop for Trainers on Distant Learning Package on Tissue Banking,
Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, Dean Faculty of Medicine (Guest of Honour for Opening Ceremony) with Professor Glyn O Phillips,
Technical Advisor to Deputy Director General of IAEA,on his left and Associate Professor Aziz Nather, Workshop Director, on his right.

This gesture by the Singapore Government to countries in the region will go a long way towards promoting tissue transplantation in the region and thereby helping to reduce health costs in our neighbouring countries.

Firstly, by adopting a common Curriculum with the same general standards and a common quality policy fashioned on ISO 9002 : 1994 Quality System Requirements, it will help to raise the quality standards of tissue grafts produced in the region to the high standards practised in NUH Tissue Bank and internationally. It may take a year or two before this can be realised. Member States are now ready for audit by professionals assigned by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Secondly, by achieving harmonisation of quality standards, this will in the long term facilitate the exchange of tissue grafts between one country and another to their mutual benefit. Finally, it improves training, facilitating exchange programmes whereby a technologist from, for example Korea, could be attached to NUH and vice versa and get good hands-on training since we are all adopting the same standards and techniques.

There are indeed bigger implications of the Multi-Media Curriculum produced by Singapore. Several Member States have expressed their intention to translate the Curriculum into their national languages (Mandarin for China, Vietnamese for Vietnam, Bahasa Indonesia/Malay for Indonesia and Malaysia, etc.). IAEA has already announced its plans to translate the Curriculum into Spanish for use in Latin America for countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Peru, etc. As IAEA/NUS Interregional Training Centre, Singapore will also play a role in the introduction of this Curriculum not only into Latin America but also into Africa. A technologist from Zambia was attached for a 2-month fellowship in February this year, sponsored by IAEA. Singapore is therefore proud to be part of this joint venture with IAEA to be the Regional and Interregional Training Centre for Tissue Banking.