Abstract
Background:The Association of Pacific Rim Universities Global Health Program facilitates exchange of information, knowledge and experiences in global health education and research among its 50 member universities. Despite the proliferation of global health educational programs worldwide, a lack of consensus exists regarding core competencies in global health training and how these are best taught.Methods:A workshop was convened with 30 faculty, university administrators, students, and NGO workers representing both the Global North and South to gain consensus on core competencies in masters’-level global health training. The co-authors then collaborated to refine the list of competencies, categorize them into domains, and develop a plan for how academic institutions can ensure that these competencies are effectively taught.Findings:Nineteen competencies across five domains were identified: knowledge of trends and determinants of global disease patterns; cultural competency; global health governance, diplomacy and leadership; project management; and ethics and human rights. The plan for how academic institutions can best train students on these competencies outlined five key opportunities: coursework; practicums; research opportunities; mentorship; and evaluation. The plan recommended additional institutional strategies such as maximizing collaborative research opportunities, international partnerships, capacity-building grants, and use of educational technology to support these goals.Conclusions and Recommendations:While further research on the implementation of competency-based training is warranted, this work offers a step forward in advancing competency-based global health masters’ education as identified by a globally diverse group of expert stakeholders and economies. Given the challenges facing the current global health landscape, comparable competency-based training across institutions is critical to ensure the training of competent global health professionals.
Highlights
The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) is an international, non-profit consortium of 50 research universities in the Pacific Rim, representing 16 economies,1 120,000 faculty members and approximately two million students
Most of the available literature regarding this topic comes from the United States [15] (US) or North America [13, 19, 20, 21], and may fail to offer perspectives of institutions from other countries, especially those of low- and middle-income (LMI) economies which suffer a significant proportion of the global disease burden
Academic institutions should track the career development of alumni; by examining which core competencies are used in alumni positions, academic institutions can be confident that the core competencies are useful, appropriate and relevant in public health practice
Summary
The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) is an international, non-profit consortium of 50 research universities in the Pacific Rim, representing 16 economies, 120000 faculty members and approximately two million students. At the annual meeting of APRU GHP in 2014, participants noted that despite the great number of global health education programs across universities, the wide variation in professional training, common gaps in training, and a general lack of consensus around defining key competencies remain at issue. Despite the proliferation of global health educational programs worldwide, a lack of consensus exists regarding core competencies in global health training and how these are best taught. Methods: A workshop was convened with 30 faculty, university administrators, students, and NGO workers representing both the Global North and South to gain consensus on core competencies in masters’-level global health training. Conclusions and Recommendations: While further research on the implementation of competency-based training is warranted, this work offers a step forward in advancing competency-based global health masters’ education as identified by a globally diverse group of expert stakeholders and economies. Given the challenges facing the current global health landscape, comparable competency-based training across institutions is critical to ensure the training of competent global health professionals
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