The faculty of Medicine at the National University of Rwanda has introduced a new course expected to advance attending to patients.Officials said Post-Graduate Diploma in Emergency and Critical Care Medicine has been facilitated by both Education and Health ministries.Dr Vincent Rusanganwa, a medical and research expert at the Ministry of Health, said the programme will bridge the gap that has been affecting the health sector for a long time."We have medical doctors and nurses but we don’t have a specialist in emergency and critical care medicine. This new programme is going to bridge the gap because we need emergency specialists in our district hospitals, our referral hospitals and even in our ambulances,” Dr Rusanganwa said.Prof. Patrick Kyamanywa, the medicine faculty dean, said the programme will start with 11 students.The curriculum was developed by systems improvement at district hospitals and regional training of emergency care (sidHart) programme.Rachel Moresky, the director of sidHart, said the course represents an important milestone for NUR and the two ministries in supporting education and health system processes at district level."We are grateful for this opportunity to work with our colleagues here and looking forward to what the future holds for this exciting endeavour,” Moresky said.The two-year programme will train general practitioners from district hospitals in the fundamentals of emergency and critical care medicine. In addition to working in the emergency ward, the trainees will rotate through other related services, including general surgery, obstetrics, orthopaedics, paediatric and anaesthesia as well as interpersonal skills.