My name is Richard Arogunjo, a Deputy Director Programmer and Health Information Analyst working in the ICT department at Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM) in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria. I was thrilled to receive the opportunity to attend a secondment.
My secondment started from April 10th to June 30th, 2024. I was hosted by Fondazione per la Ricerca Farmacologica Gianni Benzi Onlus (FGB) in Bari, Italy. I worked as a part of Work Package WP2 – eHealth Technology to support a Newborn Screening (NBS) program. This secondment offered numerous valuable learning opportunities, both virtual and in person, significantly improving my knowledge and care of sickle cell disease patients.
As a Health Information Analyst, my objectives included learning to design a questionnaire using the REDCap software. REDCap is a secure web platform for building and managing online databases and surveys. Its simplified process for quick creation and design offers a wide range of tools that can be adapted to virtually any data collection strategy. The project was a success, as the questionnaire was fully developed and ready for deployment by the end of my secondment.
I also participated in designing an ARISE mapping spreadsheet to capture information on all hospitals in Nigeria, including both private and public hospitals, along with their Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) or Medical Directors (MDs). During my secondment, I was introduced to RStudio IDE, an integrated development environment for R, a programming language for statistical computing and graphics. RStudio IDE is widely used for data analysis, statistical modeling, data visualization, and reporting. It is popular among data scientists, statisticians, and researchers for its comprehensive tools that facilitate the entire data analysis workflow.
I am passionate about sharing my knowledge, skills and academic background with colleagues. This passion was fulfilled when I collaboratively reviewed a manuscript with Lucia Ruggieri for the “Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health”. We followed the structure provided by the editors, recording our comments and observations.
I extend my deep appreciation to Mr. Fedele Duccio and Dr. Ijeoma Akinwumi for the secondment opportunity. My entire stay was successful thanks to the support and guidance of Serena, Lucia, Annalisa, Antonella, Chiara, Silva, Giorgia, Nunzia and Viviana. I also appreciate Mr. Franco Bartoloni, who was always forthcoming and provided tips on adapting to life in Bari. Special thanks go to my fellow secondees from Nigeria and Kenya: Abubakar, Roy, Simeon, Rose, Isaya and Sarah, along with all other staff who made my stay memorable.
Finally, I want to express my profound gratitude to the sending institution, LASUCOM, and the ARISE Project team. I will always cherish my time in Bari.
