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A Collaborative Multidisciplinary and Without-Walls Research Curriculum in Global Health.

ABSTRACT: Longitudinal and collaborative global health research curricula to train a well-versed global health corps through skills building in assessment and evaluation are lacking. A without-walls research curriculum was offered to medical and public health students between 2007 and 2015. Mentored cross-disciplinary research projects were developed and implemented in partnership with communities. A multilevel mixed methods design, including semi-structured interviews, post-curriculum surveys, presentations, publications, postgraduation metrics, and feedback from project sites, evaluated educational outcomes. Students (N = 25; aged 27 ± 1.9 years; 90.5% female) participated in the studies in 12 countries, resulting in 26 national-level presentations and 24 peer-reviewed publications, including per student average and range of Institutional Review Board submission (0.95; 0-3), poster presentation (0.85; 0-3), oral presentation (0.65; 0-2), and peer-reviewed submission (1.05; 0-4). On average, the studies (40% mixed methods) lasted 2 years. Analyses and manuscript writing were the most challenging; data collection and presentations were the most rewarding. Majority of the participants strongly agreed with achieving skills in community engagement, interviewing techniques, research design and implementation, research dissemination, and career development. Interview themes included expectations and learning goals, effective mentorship, impact on career goals, and ethical learning. Mentorship qualities were accessibility, real-time problem solving, research expertise, advocate, and balancing guidance with independence. Project sites' feedback was overwhelmingly positive regarding the projects' impact. Postgraduation participants hold positions in humanitarian organizations, research programs serving the underserved, and primary care residencies, fellowships, and faculty. This experience illustrates the feasibility and effectiveness of mentored global health research and underlines the crucial link between community collaboration and scholarship for effective global health practice.

SUBMITTER: Asgary R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6221244 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A Collaborative Multidisciplinary and Without-Walls Research Curriculum in Global Health.

Asgary Ramin R

The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 20181101 5

Longitudinal and collaborative global health research curricula to train a well-versed global health corps through skills building in assessment and evaluation are lacking. A without-walls research curriculum was offered to medical and public health students between 2007 and 2015. Mentored cross-disciplinary research projects were developed and implemented in partnership with communities. A multilevel mixed methods design, including semi-structured interviews, post-curriculum surveys, presentati ...[more]

PMID: 30226139

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Project description:BackgroundDespite the increasing mobilization of researchers and funding organizations around knowledge translation (KT) in Canada and elsewhere, many questions have been only partially answered, particularly in the field of population health. This article presents the results of a systematic process to draw out possible avenues of collaboration for researchers, practitioners and decision-makers who work in the area of KT. The main objective was to establish a research agenda on knowledge translation in population health.MethodsUsing the Concept Mapping approach, the research team wanted to identify priority themes for the development of research on KT in population health. Mapping is based on multivariate statistical analyses (multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis) in which statements produced during a brainstorming session are grouped in weighted clusters. The final maps are a visual representation of the priority themes of research on KT. Especially designed for facilitating consensus in the understanding and organization of various concepts, the Concept Mapping method proved suitable for achieving this objective.ResultsThe maps were produced by 19 participants from university settings, and from institutions within the health and social services network. Three main perspectives emerge from this operation: (1) The evaluation of the effectiveness of KT efforts is one of the main research priorities; (2) The importance of taking into consideration user contexts in any KT effort; (3) The challenges related to sharing power for decision-making and action-taking among various stakeholder groups. These perspectives open up avenues of collaboration for stakeholders who are involved in research on KT. Besides these three main perspectives, the concept maps reveal three other trends which should be emphasized.ConclusionThe Concept Mapping process reported in this article aimed to provoke collective reflection on the research questions that should be studied, in order to foster coherence in research activities in the field of population health. Based on this, it is appropriate to continue to support the development of research projects in KT and the formation of research teams in this field. Research on KT must lead to concrete outcomes within communities that are interested in the question.

Project description:BackgroundSimulation based medical education (SBME) allows learners to acquire clinical skills without exposing patients to unnecessary risk. This is especially applicable to Emergency Medicine training programs where residents are expected to demonstrate proficiency in the management of time critical, low frequency, and highly-morbidity conditions. This study aims to describe the process through which a SBME curriculum was created, in a limited simulation resource setting at a 4-year Emergency Medicine (EM) residency program at the American University of Beirut Medical Center.MethodsA case-based pilot simulation curriculum was developed following Kern's 6 step approach to curriculum design. The curricular objectives were identified through an anonymous survey of the program's residents and faculty. Curriculum outcomes were assessed, and the curriculum was revised to address curricular barriers. Evaluations of the revised curriculum were collected during the simulation sessions and through a whole revised curriculum evaluation at the end of the first year of its implementation.Results14/20 residents (70%) and 8/8 faculty (100%) completed the needs assessment from which objectives for the pilot curriculum were developed and implemented through 6 2-h sessions over a 1-year period. Objectives were not met and identified barriers included cost, scheduling, resources, and limited faculty time. The revised curriculum addressed these barriers and 24 40-min sessions were successfully conducted during the following year. The sessions took place 3 at a time, in 2-h slots, using the same scenario to meet the objectives of the different learners' levels. 91/91 evaluations were collected from participants with overall positive results. The main differences between the pilot and the revised curricula included: a better understanding of the simulation center resources and faculty's capabilities.ConclusionSimulation-based education is feasible even with limited-resources. However, understanding the resources available, and advocating for protected educator time are essential to implementing a successful EM simulation curriculum.

Project description:BackgroundGlobal Health Education (GHE) focuses on training proactive global citizens to tackle health challenges in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world. Studies show that health professionals in training have reported that GHE has improved their teamwork, responsiveness to contextual factors that impact health, and understanding of health systems; however, there is little research on the impact of GHE courses in undergraduate settings, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).MethodsOur study analyzes a multidisciplinary online global health course at Tecnologico de Monterrey, México. We conducted a cross-sectional study with pre- and post-design. Students who took the multidisciplinary course of Global Health for Leaders in the Fall of 2019 (n = 153) and Spring of 2020 (n = 348) were selected for this study. Using a five-point Likert scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree), the survey assessed seven competencies as well as questions about course expectations, takeaways, and recommendations to improve the course. We performed descriptive statistical analyses comparing the combined pre-tests (from Fall and Spring cohorts) to the combined post-tests. Fisher's exact test was used to compare the samples.ResultsOf the 501 pre-course surveys administered, 456 responses were completed in the pre-course and 435 in the post-course (91% overall response rate). Only 8.7% of the respondents in the pre-course survey strongly agreed that they could describe fundamental aspects of global health such as the Millennium Development Goals or Sustainable Development Goals, in contrast to a 56% of the students who strongly agreed in the post-course survey (p < 0.001). Similar differences were captured in understanding the global burden of disease, social determinants of health, the effects of globalization in health, health systems' goals and functions, and human rights. 38% felt that the course helped them develop a more empathetic perception of the suffering of others experiencing global health-related issues.ConclusionIn this study, we have presented our experience in teaching an online global health course for multidisciplinary undergraduates in a LMIC. The competencies reported by our students indicate that the course prepared them to confront complex global health issues.

Dataset Information

A Collaborative Multidisciplinary and Without-Walls Research Curriculum in Global Health.

Publications

A Collaborative Multidisciplinary and Without-Walls Research Curriculum in Global Health.

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