Global Health Education Research Articles

Strengthening Mentorship in Global Health for US Medical Students.

US medical students demonstrate strong interest in receiving global health training. In 2012, the Center for Global Health (CGH) at the University of Illinois College of Medicine (UICOM) developed a Global Medicine (GMED) program to match this interest. From its initiation, mentorship has been a key component of the GMED program. More recently, this has been strengthened by applying additional evidence-informed approaches toward mentoring. These include the "mentor up" approach, a "network of mentors," and an individualized development plan (IDP). Applying these changes were associated with increases in the number of student abstract presentations and peer-reviewed journal publications. Mentorship based upon evidence-informed approaches should be a key component of global health education in academic medical centers.

Assessing perspectives of a global health area of concentration within the PharmD curriculum

IntroductionWhile global health education in pharmacy expands, limited research has described the outcome of completing a global health area of concentration on career decisions, perceptions on cultural sensitivity, health disparity awareness, and global health competencies among pharmacists and students. MethodsThis mixed methods study enrolled 21 graduates and 17 student pharmacists who participated in a global health concentration at one school of pharmacy in the United States. Data sources included graduate interviews and surveys, student pharmacist focus groups, and global health competency self-assessments. ResultsFive themes emerged among graduates: (1) skills were applicable to diverse settings, (2) early exposure to underserved care prepared graduates for current practice, (3) participation impacted the lens through which graduates viewed careers, (4) participation influenced patient care in current practice, and (5) graduates gained insight on complex global health issues. Three themes were identified among student pharmacists: (1) the program provided opportunities to personalize education, (2) participants gained insight through hands-on experience, and (3) participants developed new perspectives on approaching underserved care. Many graduates (77.4%) currently practiced in an underserved setting. Graduates and fourth professional year students reported improvement in all seven global health competency domains. ConclusionsA global health concentration in pharmacy curricula can facilitate skills and global health competencies that are applicable across a wide variety of patient care contexts. This concentrated experience provided opportunities to further develop career interests and personalize education, creating a cadre of pharmacists dedicated towards addressing health disparities and serving the underserved.

ACCESS model: a step toward an empowerment model in global health education

The approaches to global health (GH) partnerships are as varied as the programs available across the globe. Few models have shared their philosophy and structure in sufficient detail to inform a full spectrum of how these collaborations are formed. Although contributions from low- to middle-income countries (LMICs) have markedly grown over the last decade, they are still few in comparison to those from high-income countries (HICs). In this article, we share the African Community Center for Social Sustainability (ACCESS) model of GH education through the lenses of grassroots implementers and their international collaborators. This model involves the identification and prioritization of the needs of the community, including but not limited to healthcare. We invite international partners to align with and participate in learning from and, when appropriate, becoming part of the solution. We share successes, challenges, and takeaways while offering recommendations for consideration when establishing community-driven GH programs.

Decolonizing Global Child Health Education for More Equitable and Culturally Safe Collaborations.

Global health (GH) as an academic field is fraught with both historical and present systemic injustice, including unilateral partnerships; power asymmetry in grant funding and research agenda setting; lack of acknowledgment of contributions from low- and middle-income country collaborators; and disadvantageous bias toward low- and middle-income country institutions. Reflecting on the legacies of colonialism and White supremacy is vital for training pediatricians to actively work to improve the health of all children worldwide, within bidirectional and culturally safe partnerships in which power dynamics and ethnocentrism are dismantled. In this article, we discuss the present challenges within academic GH education (GHE) and offer four key action steps to decolonize GHE: (1) reflecting on the history of global child health; (2) creating a new language framework on pertinent concepts in GHE; (3) developing cultural humility, antiracism, and decolonization curricula; and (4) intentional institutional action steps to decolonize and sustain culturally safe global child health education. [Pediatr Ann. 2023;52(9):e344-e350.].

Craving Sweet Success: A Recipe for Developing a Global Health Education Consortium (or Any Consortium, for That Matter).

More than a decade ago, two faculty met at a conference. Each talked about how they were charged with leading global health education efforts at their institutions and longed to have an opportunity to share resources and learn from each other. After reaching out to a few other Midwestern colleagues and finding a date, the first Midwest Consortium of Global Child Health Educators meeting was held in Madison, WI. Now, after a dozen annual meetings, more than 30 articles, chapters, abstracts, and workshops, as well as the creating, piloting, and sharing of several widely used curricula in global health education, the founding consortium members share the practical steps for faculty looking to form similar regional consortia around shared interests. In this article, the authors provide a recipe for the successful formation of an academic consortium based on the lessons learned from their experience. [Pediatr Ann. 2023;52(9):e351-e356.].

The Changing Landscape of Global Child Health Education in the United States and the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Civil Unrest.

The events of recent years have affected the landscape of global child health education (GCHE) in the United States. War, racism, forced displacement, and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had global repercussions that reached US GCHE. The aim of this article is to examine the effect of these events on the landscape of GCHE in the US. Key areas of GCHE have been reframed, reshaped, and accelerated by these events. Travel restrictions accelerated virtual learning opportunities. Core curriculum needed to be reconsidered to address antiracism, equity, and decolonization. Expansion of GCHE activities, including local-global electives, was needed to meet increased resident demand and help address local community needs. Inequities in international partnerships were further highlighted, requiring new approaches. Global research education and practices were also affected with a rapid expansion in virtual opportunities and further development of education in equitable research practices. [Pediatr Ann. 2023;52(9):e324-e329.].

940 The Metaverse as a Potential Solution for the Delivery of Global Health Education

Abstract Aim We describe a novel approach to the delivery of global health education (GHE) via the utilisation of the Metaverse. In 2015, the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery identified that the global burden of disease amenable to surgical intervention is substantial and growing. Virtual Reality in Medicine and Surgery (VRiMS) is an academic working group based at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) devoted to creating technology-based solutions in surgical and medical training and education. Method 10 East African surgeons were selected to attend a 5-day cadaveric dissection course in-person in Brighton, on fully funded scholarships. A parallel conference was also run in Kampala, Uganda and >1000 delegates attended remotely from 61 different countries. A proof of concept of the metaverse was created using the software Spatial. Delegates from the in-person course in Brighton and Kampala used Oculus and PICO headsets in order to access and interact within the metaverse build. Both a quantitative and qualitative approach was implemented for data collection utilising a survey as well semi-structured interviews. Results Feedback was positive and highlighted the interactivity of the platform, the multiple types of content which could be accessed and the level of immersion it provided. The majority of delegates felt that the metaverse could be beneficial in the delivery of medical and surgical education globally. Conclusions The Metaverse could be a novel approach in tackling issues in global health and global surgery and extensive future work related to its validity as an educational resource could be beneficial to trainees worldwide.

Integrating global health education and research in pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition fellowship.

Integrating global health education and research in pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition fellowship.

The UTH-UMB Global Health Education Collaboration: Building a Bidirectional Exchange Based on Equity and Reciprocity.

The global health exchange program between the University Teaching Hospitals (UTH) of Lusaka, Zambia and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) has been operating since 2015. As trainees and facilitators of this exchange program, we describe our experiences working in Lusaka and Baltimore, and strengths and challenges of the partnership. Since 2015, we have facilitated rotations for 71 UMB trainees, who spent four weeks on the Infectious Disease (ID) team at UTH. Since 2019 with funding from UMB, nine UTH ID trainee physicians spent up to six weeks each rotating on various ID consult services at University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). Challenges in global health rotations can include inadequate preparation or inappropriate expectations among high-income country trainees, low-value experiences for low- and middle-income country trainees, lack of appropriate mentorship at sites, and power imbalances in research collaborations. We try to mitigate these issues by ensuring pre-departure and on-site orientation for UMB trainees, cross-cultural mentored experiences for all trainees, and intentional sharing of authorship and credit on scientific collaborations. We present a description of our medical education collaboration as a successful model for building equitable and reciprocal collaborations between low- and middle-income countries and high-income countries, and offer suggestions for future program initiatives to enhance global health education equity among participants and organizations.

Decolonizing global health curriculum: from fad to foundation

IntroductionIncreasing calls have been made to decolonize global health education but there has been a lack of consensus and clarity on how this should be done. We conducted a qualitative study to understand current educational programs and curricula that aim to educate public health and allied health students to increase awareness of how colonialist structures of power influence current global health practice and provide students with tools to decolonize global health. Our goal is to inform related curriculum development and provide recommendations.MethodsWe conducted key-informant interviews with 14 study coordinators and faculty from institutions of higher learning with global health programs who are involved in developing educational approaches. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using an ‘up from the data’ approach.ResultsParticipants varied in their understanding of decolonizing global health and recognized that there is a lack of guidance in the field; this has an impact on how curriculum is developed and taught. Participants described a range of decolonizing global health educational activities in the classrooms and in applied learning activities. Most programming was situated in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives and participants did not always feel this was the best ‘home’ for such work; to some this reflected a lack of institutional support. Other institutional barriers included lack of protected time for faculty and limited budgets for speaker honoraria, co-creation, and related teaching expenses.DiscussionInstitutes of higher learning can play an important role, either positively or negatively, in decolonizing global health education. At a minimum such institutions should financially support faculty to incorporate decolonizing global health in their pedagogy and strengthen scholarship towards common understandings. More substantive institutional support is needed however to meaningfully transform institutional relationships that actively support equitable partnerships, co-creation, and responsiveness to local community priorities.

Learning with, about, and from COVID-19: An interprofessional global comparison of pandemic responses

Background and purposeUniversity of Kentucky developed a fully virtual course to educate global health learners about the COVID-19 pandemic and compare country responses to it. Educational activity and settingForty-three students participated in 13 weeks of synchronous interprofessional group meetings via Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, Inc) and asynchronous modules. Interprofessionality was intentional yet implicit, and a flipped classroom was utilized. Assessment was accomplished with one instrument measuring learning outcomes associated with select Consortium of Universities of Global Health Interprofessional Global Health Competencies, Association of American Colleges and Universities Global Learning Value Rubric competencies, and course satisfaction and effectiveness utilizing a retrospective pre−/post-methodology. FindingsPositive pre−/post-change was observed in 10 survey items. Evaluation results concerning course structure and experience were uniformly high, with the key informant interview rated most helpful. Items with significant improvement included a better understanding of the student's place in the world; improved interprofessional communication skills; population health data skills; and understanding of health systems and entities that influence global health and development. Learners appreciated the value of interprofessional teamwork and gained a deeper understanding of the roles and training of colleagues from other programs, leading to a deeper understanding of the actions those professions may take within health systems. SummaryThe pivot to all online global health education was a viable solution to addressing the pause in global travel and study abroad experiences at University of Kentucky.

Levelling the learning ground for healthcare professionals across the world through SIMBA: a mixed-methods study

ObjectivesTo compare the acceptance, strengths and limitations of Simulation via Instant Messaging-Birmingham Advance (SIMBA) in low/middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs), on healthcare professionals’ professional development and learning.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingOnline...

Bidirectional Medical Training: Legislative Advocacy and a Step Towards Equity in Global Health Education.

The authors report no conflicts of interest. [email protected] Supplemental Digital Content is available for this article. Direct URL citations are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal's website, www.annalsofsurgery.com.

Transnational public and global health education in China

Transnational public and global health programs in China have rapidly expanded over the past 20 years, and have potential to make important contributions to China’s global health workforce. However, there has been sparse if any literature specific to transnational public and global health higher education in China. In response, this perspective article aims to: (1) outline current transnational public and global health programs in China, and (2) delineate opportunities and challenges for transnational public and global health programs to enhance China’s global health workforce. Based on internet searches, eight active transnational public and global health programs in China were identified in September 2022 (one Bachelors; four Masters; three doctorate). Degree awarding institutions are located in Australia, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Courses for stand-alone transnational programs were co-delivered by faculty from the Chinese and foreign sponsoring institutions. The earliest and latest programs were respectively established in 2001 and 2022, and the average year of establishment was 2013. The endurance of some programs (three programs operating ≥ 10 years) indicates the potential sustainability of transnational public and global health programs in China. However, opportunities for cross-cultural engagement appear to be constrained by lack of English (or other language) requirements in some programs, limited recruitment of international students, pandemic travel restrictions, and a dearth of funding for global health research outside China. In addition, students enrolled at transnational universities in China are currently ineligible for China Scholarship Council funding. As China’s need for global health capacity grows amid a rapidly shrinking population of younger citizens, strategic investments in transnational public and global health programs may be of increasing value.

Towards a global partnership model in interprofessional education for cross-sector problem-solving

ObjectivesA partnership model in interprofessional education (IPE) is important in promoting a sense of global citizenship while preparing students for cross-sector problem-solving. However, the literature remains scant in providing useful guidance for the development of an IPE programme co-implemented by external partners. In this pioneering study, we describe the processes of forging global partnerships in co-implementing IPE and evaluate the programme in light of the preliminary data available.MethodsThis study is generally quantitative. We collected data from a total of 747 health and social care students from four higher education institutions. We utilized a descriptive narrative format and a quantitative design to present our experiences of running IPE with external partners and performed independent t-tests and analysis of variance to examine pretest and posttest mean differences in students’ data.ResultsWe identified factors in establishing a cross-institutional IPE programme. These factors include complementarity of expertise, mutual benefits, internet connectivity, interactivity of design, and time difference. We found significant pretest–posttest differences in students’ readiness for interprofessional learning (teamwork and collaboration, positive professional identity, roles, and responsibilities). We also found a significant decrease in students’ social interaction anxiety after the IPE simulation.ConclusionsThe narrative of our experiences described in this manuscript could be considered by higher education institutions seeking to forge meaningful external partnerships in their effort to establish interprofessional global health education.

Survey of global health education in physical medicine and rehabilitation residency programs across the United States

Survey of global health education in physical medicine and rehabilitation residency programs across the United States

Global impact of a video education platform on oncology education amongst healthcare professionals.

e23005 Background: Lower socioeconomic (SE) regions are often plagued extensively by healthcare outcome disparities. In searching for the root of this injustice, lack of access to the latest medical information has frequently been cited as a major contributor to these inequities. To address this, MedNews Week (MNW), a free, virtual education platform was developed to provide global health education through weekly oncology programming. The leading show, Keynote Conference, features live virtual presentations from oncology’s premier global leaders discussing the latest developments in the field. The aim of this study was to assess the global reach and impact of this platform for healthcare professionals (HCP). Methods: From September 2022 to January 2023, 37 MNW lectures on solid tumors and heme malignancies were showcased on VuMedi—a video platform providing free education content to HCP. Data collected from VuMedi included location, total page/video views, impressions, tumor subtype views and impressions, and occupation demographics. This information was analyzed to evaluate and assess the global reach of MNW on the VuMedi platform. Results: During this 5-month period, MNW experienced steady linear growth generating 5,643,257 page/video views with global viewership from 22 countries, including US, England, Canada, Brazil, and India (Table). Significant viewership was also observed from lower SE countries including Nigeria, Sudan, Georgia, and Bangladesh. Viewers were largely surgeons compared to Allied HCP (11:2). Higher viewership was observed for solid tumor presentations [706 (0.012%) page views and 9717 (7%) impressions] compared to heme malignancies [689 (0.001%) page views and 1688 (1.22%) impressions]. Within solid tumors, GI oncology keynotes were most viewed— generating 3755 (0.06%) page views and 28067 (20%) impressions, and the highest number of registrations recorded for this category. Conclusions: MNW continued growth in viewership and global reach amongst HCPs and demonstrates its emergence as a viable outlet to contribute to global oncology education, especially in lower SE areas. While previous studies have identified internet access and cost as barriers to high-quality medical information, MNW has experienced steady growth and reachability especially within these limited areas. The platform’s ability to showcase global leaders to HCP offers a practical approach to combat educational inequity and positively impact oncology education globally. [Table: see text]

Impacts, Learner Diversity, and Curricular Framework of a Virtual Global Health Elective Catalyzed by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Place-based international electives that build global health competencies have existed for decades. However, these electives require travel and are infeasible for many trainees around the world, particularly those with insufficient financial resources, logistical complexities, or visa limitations. The emergence of virtual approaches to global health electives, catalyzed by the travel pause related to the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitates the exploration of learner impacts, participant diversity, and curricular frameworks. Child Family Health International (CFHI), a non-profit global health education organization that partners with universities to expand immersive educational offerings, launched a virtual global health elective in 2021. The elective drew on faculty from Bolivia, Ecuador, Ghana, Mexico, the Philippines, Uganda, and the United States. This study aimed to describe a newly developed virtual global health elective curriculum and evaluate the demographics of and impacts on trainee participants. Eighty-two trainees who were enrolled in the virtual global health elective from January to May 2021 completed both 1) pre- and post-elective self-assessments of domains of competency mapped to the elective curriculum and 2) free text responses to standardized questions. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistical analysis, paired t-testing, and qualitative thematic analysis. The virtual global health elective had 40% of its participants hail from countries other than the United States. Self-reported competency in global health broadly, planetary health, low resource clinical reasoning, and overall composite competency significantly increased. Qualitative analysis revealed learner development in health systems, social determinants of health, critical thinking, planetary health, cultural humility, and professional practice. Virtual global health electives effectively develop key competencies in global health. This virtual elective had a 40-fold increase in the proportion of trainees from outside the United States, compared to pre-pandemic place-based electives. The virtual platform facilitates accessibility for learners from a variety of health professions and a wide range of geographic and socioeconomic environments. Further research is needed to confirm and expand on self-reported data, and to pursue approaches to greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in virtual frameworks.

The implications of decolonization on China’s academic global health: a dialogue with Stephen Gloyd at the Luhu Global Health Salon

The call for decolonization in global health is growing alongside China’s increasing involvement in the field. This perspective paper presents and extends with a further literature review of a dialogue with Stephen Gloyd, a global health professor from the University of Washington, conducted in July 2022 at the Luhu Global Health Salon. Drawing from Gloyd’s four decades of experiences in low- and middle-income countries, as well as his role in creating the University of Washington’s global health department, the doctoral program in implementation science, and the non-governmental organization, Health Alliance International, this paper delves into the concept of decolonization in global health and explores how Chinese universities can expand their participation in global health while striving for equity and justice. Focusing on China’s academic global health research, education, and practice, the paper proposes specific recommendations for building an equity-focused global health curriculum, addressing power imbalances and inequalities in university-affiliated organizations, and strengthening South-South cooperation in practice. The paper offers implications for Chinese universities on expanding future global health cooperation, promoting global health governance, and avoiding recolonization.

WEO Newsletter.

WEO Newsletter.