As seen in CC-Info, 4 December, 2003:

Sender: Nandi Siegfried [nandi.siegfried@mrc.ac.za]
Subject: HIV/AIDS Mentoring Programme

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

The South African Cochrane Centre (SACC) and the Cochrane HIV/AIDS Group
have been running the HIV/AIDS Mentoring Programme since October 2000.
Its main aim is to increase the number of Cochrane reviews relevant to
HIV/AIDS in resource-poor settings, particularly sub-Saharan Africa.
Novice reviewers from the region are paired with a more experienced reviewer
and also receive regular mentorship from staff of the SACC. Since 2000,
the small initiative has grown and there are now twelve mentees and five
mentors. Some of the mentors were recruited through CCInfo and this arrangement
is proving very successful.

The review topics are wide-ranging reflecting the diversity of issues that
need to be tackled in HIV/AIDS. Some of the current topics are:

·Balanced diet to reduce morbidity and mortality HIV-infected adults
·Stavudine, Lamivudine and Nevirapine for reducing morbidity and mortality
in HIV-infected adults
·Behavioral interventions for reducing HIV risk and infection in employees in
occupational settings
·Interventions for the prevention and management of oro-pharyngeal candidiasis
associated with HIV infection in adults and children

Many of the novice reviewers had recently published their protocols and their
need to better understand RevMan and meta-analysis prompted a four-day reviewer
completion programme. Held in Cape Town from the 18 - 21 November 2003, the workshop
was attended by nine reviewers. Nandi Siegfried facilitated the workshop which
was PC-based to allow reviewers to learn interactively. Time was allocated each
day for reviewers to work on their own reviews using the data they extracted from
studies they had brought along. Each reviewer left with a progress plan with
clearly identified objectives and timelines. Evaluations were extremely positive
as evidenced by the comments below:

"This is exactly the type of workshops that 1st time reviewers need - it gives you
confidence to use RevMan and enter data. Well done - my negative attitude in terms
of my competency has been significantly changed (p=0,00)."

"I found this workshop extremely useful. It put many things in perspective and explained
many things which in general you think you know - but don't - especially with respect
to practical aspects around a review, nomenclature etc. Thank you for a wonderful
experience"

"It was a lovely small interactive group. Thank you so much for the opportunity"

The workshop was funded by a grant from the Cochrane HIV/AIDS Review Group. It is
clear that a lot can be gained from bringing reviewers together who are at a similar
stage in their reviews so that they can learn together and from each other. We look
forward to hosting a similar workshop next year.

Any reviewer interested in joining this dynamic programme as a mentor (you must have
completed a review to qualify), please contact the South African Cochrane Centre
at cochrane@mrc.ac.za

Nandi Siegfried