This piece was written by Isatou Sarr, Researcher and PentaTr@ining participant, Gambia. It is taken from Penta’s 2022 Annual Social Report.
I first began participating in the PentaTr@ining online courses in 2022. Unlike other medical courses, PentaTr@ining is unique in that it teaches you practical skills that you can use in any area. It has provided me the opportunity to be able to critically think out clinical conundrums and scenarios for better outcomes as well as identify critical knowledge gaps for research topics that are of high public health relevance.
I believe the online trainings offer great distance learning options, while still maintaining a good measure of work-life balance. I welcomed the inter-disciplinary approach to make the right connections between ideas and concepts across different scientific disciplines and beyond. It also has given me the opportunity to reliably crowd-source answers for difficult cases that you may encounter in your work through the unflinching support of the tutors.
They are always ready and available through the learning platform and the live webinars, both of which are interactive and intuitive. Moreover, the virtual learning platform gives you the feeling that you are actually in the very same space as your peers and study guides. With this sensation of realism, it creates an engaging and immersive environment most ideal for learning.
Of all the training programmes I have taken in my professional career, PentaTr@ining has been by far the most resourceful learning initiative. I feel I’m truly part of a progressive learning community and that I am now better equipped professionally and a better team member of the DIAMONDS study at MRCG@LSHTM, which aims at improving the diagnosis and treatment of febrile children as well inflammatory conditions in the older population.
Learning with PentaTr@ining is engaging, thorough, professional and impactful!