Webinar Episode 45: PACT: An Education Model for Comprehensive Cleft Teams

Since 2012, Partners in African Cleft Training (PACT) has offered an annual one-week training workshop for providers to promote sustainable, multidisciplinary cleft care in Sub-Saharan Africa. The workshop incorporates didactics, discipline-specific hands-on patient care, and case discussions. Attendees often participate in workshops for consecutive years and describe positive impacts on patient care, team composition, and sustainability.

What has PACT learned about promoting Comprehensive Cleft Care? How has the program evolved over the last decade? What elements could be applied to other contexts?

Dr. Gallagher is a pediatrician with fellowship training in Craniofacial Medicine, practicing at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and Associate Professor of University of Washington, Department of Pediatrics and Adjunct Professor, Department of Global Health. She has been a leader in PACT since 2019, working to broaden educational opportunities for multidisciplinary providers on cleft teams in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Nyamu is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon who completed a fellowship in Clefts and Craniofacial Deformities surgery. She works as a maxillofacial surgeon at Nyeri County Referral Hospital in Nyeri, Kenya, where she is the team leader of the Cleft team, now in its 10th year.