Cohort journey highlights (2026)
This section shows how the Phase 1 PiTCH program began for the 2026 cohort. Each month, selected comments from fellows will be shared anonymously to highlight their experiences during mentorship.
January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December
January 2026 – Building foundations
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Theme: Partnership formation and planning
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January focused on establishing teaching pair and teaching pair–mentor partnerships, understanding local contexts, and beginning workshop planning. Teaching pairs introduced their backgrounds, shared information on available infrastructure at host institutions, and identified priorities for collaborative training activities. They are excited about the journey and committed to the program.
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Here are some anonymous January comments from the fellows:
"Enjoyable first meeting, we feel at ease and enthusiastic!"​​
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Pair 1
"Our mentor helped us refine and prioritize the core objectives, ensuring that our workshop goals remained focused, coherent, and strategically aligned… Her experience has been extremely valuable and inspiring for us.!"​​​​​​​​
Pair 2
"Our mentor has guided us on how to create powerful yet easily digestible material for a training workshop."​
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Pair 3
"Our January meeting emphasised on capacity building, sustainability, and access to advanced imaging technologies in resource-limited settings, with a strong focus on designing a hands-on, low-cost, high-impact training program."
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Pair 4
"We have each presented our center's areas of expertise, operating methods, and themes. We have diverse areas of expertise that allow us to share knowledge and develop new skills with one another."
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Pair 5
"The African partner has shared information on the host university and available infrastructure. Both partners discussed their strengths and knowledge gaps and shared resources."
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Pair 6