Providing opportunities for further education in the Public Health field presents challenging opportunities in an age of technology. The ICMI Board struck a committee in the fall of 2008 to investigate opportunities for distance education. It became evident at the first meeting that there are numerous options ranging from live online computer courses to general correspondence courses.

It was clear that numerous course are currently available online through schools and universities, however, the costs for such courses would be prohibitive to Ugandan and other African nations. There may also be technology limitations within these countries.

In order to identify possible solutions for the target audience, a survey document was prepared. The survey was manually distributed throughout ICMI Uganda commencing in January 2009 and could also be completed online - the document being accessed through the ICMI Canada web site at www.icmicanada.com.

Survey questions targeted a number of key areas to enable the most suitable options to be identified. The survey results were tabulated and a report completed providing valuable insight into the area of distance education in Uganda.

Following a report produced in 2010, a board initiative was approved to further investigate distance education options in light of technological advances in Uganda

The new committee held its first meeting in Feb 2011.

A number of Distance Education Program Requirement Options were identified and assigned to committee members for further action:

1) Establish Mission Statement
2) Review/Select Delivery Options
3) Identify Program Courses
4) Identify Required Resources
5) Identify Method of Promotion
6) Identify Costs/Operational Expenses
7) Identify Rates for Courses

A preliminary Mission Statement was shared as follows:

"To provide an affordable and accessible Distance Education Program for Health Care Administrators."

Work continues as requirements are reviewed and key parameters are identified.