Schistosomiasis is a public health problem in many tropical settings. One form of Schistosomiasis which manifests itself in women is called Female Genital Schistosimiasis (FGS). Women with FGS often go to clinicians whom, depending on experience and training, may misidentify or misdiagnose these women as having STDs, STIs, or a form of cancer, which in turn impacts the treatment of these women; incorrect medical treatment may prolong, worsen, or in the worst case be harmful for the patient.
DUALSAVE-FGS is a partnership of nine African and European institutions aiming at developing a cost-effective joint screening method for FGS and cervical cancer, funded by the European Union. The University of Agder, as part of this partnership, is responsible for Working Project 4, which is responsible for training and education for FGS. This spring, I received an opportunity to work as a research assistant under Santiago Gil Martinez from the Department of Health and Nursing Science starting in the late-summer to begin the research and development for a mobile application for training nurses and healthcare professionals in identifying and recognizing symptoms of FGS.
My task was to produce a design prototype which was to be presented in South Africa by Santiago in the late autumn for feedback from partners in South Africa, Eswatini, and Mozambique. My responsibilities had me meet with stakeholders from the University of Oslo, professionals who specialized in the research and distribution of material regarding knowledge on FGS, for initial input on what may be needed in the prototype. Through our meetings, I was able to assess and better understand the current training landscape, and what the initial needs are for the solution to be developed.
Throughout the autumn semester, I along with another student from the AI and IoT masters programme have helped design a proposed solution inspired by current content and processes used for training in FGS diagnosis. The initial prototype was developed using Figma, and was presented in South Africa at an expert panel workshop in late October. The initial feedback following the workshop was positive. The project was also awarded additional funding, which will be used at the start of 2025 for the development of a minimum viable product (MVP) to be released to current healthcare professionals in training.
The chance to participate in creating something that can lead to meaningful change is what first attracted me to the study I pursue, so I am thankful for the opportunity to put into practice the skills and concepts I had learned through my time here as a student in the Department of ICT. I believe that any student that has had and is given an opportunity to participate as a research assistant, will in some capacity share the same sentiment. To Santiago, thank you for giving me this opportunity, and I look forward to seeing what the work done here may produce in the future.