Creating Sustainable Models for Short-Term Volunteers Through the Global Health Service Partnership

Abstract

Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have critical shortages of pediatricians who serve as both clinicians and educators. Many African medical schools increase student enrollment to address these shortages; they must also increase faculty. There is an opportunity to assist with faculty placement by tapping into a growing effort by US academic institutions to establish meaningful global health experiences for residents and faculty. Pediatric training is a key focus of the Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP). Between 2013-2015, GHSP placed 15 pediatric educators in medical/nursing schools in SSA for a one-year assignment. These educators taught 41 courses to 1600 trainees, assisted with curriculum development, worked on quality improvement projects, and enhanced teaching methods. Building on this program, a strategy to improve global health experiences is to create partnerships between US academic institutions and GHSP partner sites, where residents and faculty could rotate for shorter periods and be paired with GHSP educators embedded in the local institution. GHSP educators would serve as liaisons and supervisors, have an understanding of sites needs and challenges, and identify educational projects without overburdening local faculty. One model, between University of Washington (UW) and University of Malawi College of Medicine (CoM), demonstrated success. UW family medicine residents rotated at CoM monthly under the supervision of a Malawi-based US educator. Residents completing the rotation oriented their incoming peers and handed over ongoing educational projects. This partnership improved host provider satisfaction, established continuing professional development and quality improvement, and reduced patient referrals to the national hospital. Two UW residents chose to volunteer with GHSP after residency, creating a pipeline of volunteer faculty for the host institution. Similar partnerships between US academic institutions and GHSP could create meaningful and sustainable ways of enabling residents and faculty to serve in resource-limited settings.