Establishing a postgraduate fellowship in humanitarian medicine - building capacity and ensuring sustainability for the health sector in the Rohingya Crisis

The Postgraduate Fellowship for Migrant and Refugee Health (PGF) is a 13-week programme of training, mentorship and workplace-based assessment for junior doctors working in the Rohingya migrant camps of Bangladesh. To date, four cohorts of 25 doctors who work in Primary Health Centres run by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have completed the programme. The PGF was developed and delivered by Doctors Worldwide (DWW), a UK-based international charity which aims to improve the health of communities by working in partnership with international, national and grassroots organisations focusing on health access, health improvement and health emergencies. The doctors working in the camps carry a burden of responsibility often out of proportion to their training, experience and seniority. The isolated nature of the camp health facilities, the paucity of equipment, drugs and facilities and the lack of any senior mentorship mean that clinicians have had to learn new roles and responsibilities on the job. Doctors Worldwide recognised this unique challenge at the start of the crisis in the latter half of 2017 and since 2018 it has successfully run the PGF using an international community of content developers with travelling and local teaching and support.