Enhancing an International Perspective in Public Health Teaching through Formalized University Partnerships

Abstract

Teaching in the field of public health needs to employ a global perspective to account for the fact that public health problems and solutions have global determinants and implications as well. International university partnerships can promote such a perspective through the strengthening of cooperation, exchange, and communication between academic institutions across national boundaries. As an example for such an academic network in the field of public health, we introduce the International Public Health Partnership—a collaboration between a university in Germany and universities in India, Turkey, and Nigeria. Formed in 2005, it facilitated the exchange of information, fostered discussion about the transferability of public health concepts, contributed to the structural development of the universities involved, and promoted an intercultural dialog through a combination of local and distance learning activities. Although well accepted by students and staff, different obstacles were encountered; these included limited external funding, scarce own financial, time and personnel resources, and diverging regulations and structures of degree programs at the partnership sites. In the present article, we share several lessons that we learned during our joint collaboration and provide recommendations for other universities that are involved in partnerships with institutions of higher education or are interested to initiate such collaborations.

Perceived Roles, Benefits and Barriers of Virtual Global Health Partnership Initiatives: A Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study

“…This suggests underlying healthcare system challenges in enabling continuous professional education within the GHPs. Regarding technological capacity, our ndings agree with previous studies (1,8,14,36,(44)(45)(46)) that suggest a lack of internet connectivity is a severe concern for GHPs, with important implications for VGHPIs. We found that LMIC partners reported less access to wireless internet, less trainee access to organization-owned hardware, poorer cellular phone service, and less access to physical spaces like meeting and simulation facilities.…”

Virtual global health in graduate medical education: a systematic review

“…Since the start of the pandemic, much has been published on shifting graduate medical education activities into the virtual realm, but little research focuses on virtual approaches to GHE, particularly within GH partnerships where barriers such as poor internet access persist. 14 , 21 - 23 While several papers discuss the use of virtual education for GH preparation, simulation, and education, 7 , 24 - 29 ethical considerations in GH engagement, 30 - 32 and clear learner competencies for GHE within GH partnerships, 1 , 24 , 25 , 27 , 28 limited guidance exists regarding methods to virtually sustain or improve formerly in-person GHE activities during the pandemic or similar disruptive global challenges. Few previous papers focus on supporting partners in low- to middle-income countries (LMIC) during times of crisis, 26 , 33 and it is unclear how GH competencies can be reinforced virtually for learners in high income countries (HIC) while prioritizing the needs of partners in LMIC.…”

Pediatrics in Disasters

“…Although virtual approaches to GHE are spreading rapidly and have been used worldwide in healthcare 22 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , there is limited current literature documenting enablers and barriers when pivoting from in-person to virtual formats, particularly from the perspective of LMIC partners 34 , 35 . A further challenge is how to prioritize the needs of LMIC learners and colleagues 20 , 22 , 36 while reinforcing general global health learner competencies 29 , 30 , 32 , 33 , 37 .…”