Sharing perspectives and experiences of doctoral fellows in the first cohort of Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa: 2011–2014

Adedokun, Babatunde; Nyasulu, Peter; Maseko, Fresier; Adedini, Sunday A.; Akinyemi, Joshua O.; Afolabi, Sulaimon; Wet, Nicole De; Sulaimon, Adedokun Taiwo; Sambai, Caroline Sultan; Utembe, Wells; Opiyo, Rose Okoyo; Awotidebe, Taofeek Oluwole; Chirwa, Esnat; Nabakwe, Esther Clyde; Niragire, François; Uwizeye, Dieudonné; Niwemahoro, Celine; Kamndaya, Mphatso; Mwakalinga, Victoria M.; Otwombe, Kennedy

doi:10.3402/gha.v7.25127

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…This reflective approach demonstrates the experiential learning space at various levels as the capacity building process developed in commensurate ways among the individual post-docs, the CHESAI group and the affiliated organisations [38]. This form of reflective practice is not unique to this study but has also been used by the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa on assessing African capacity building in health, whereas the experiential learning from the Malaria Capacity Development Consortium demonstrate the need to strengthen public health capacities for doctoral and post-doctoral programmes in Africa in general [39, 40]. …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-doctoral research fellowship as a health policy and systems research capacity development intervention: a case of the CHESAI initiative

Lembani

Teddy

Molosiwa

et al. 2016

Health Res Policy Sys

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BackgroundBuilding capacity in health policy and systems research (HPSR), especially in low- and middle-income countries, remains a challenge. Various approaches have been suggested and implemented by scholars and institutions using various forms of capacity building to address challenges regarding HPSR development. The Collaboration for Health Systems Analysis and Innovation (CHESAI) – a collaborative effort between the Universities of Cape Town and the Western Cape Schools of Public Health – has employed a non-research based post-doctoral research fellowship (PDRF) as a way of building African capacity in the field of HPSR by recruiting four post-docs. In this paper, we (the four post-docs) explore whether a PDRF is a useful approach for capacity building for the field of HPSR using our CHESAI PDRF experiences.MethodsWe used personal reflections of our written narratives providing detailed information regarding our engagement with CHESAI. The narratives were based on a question guide around our experiences through various activities and their impacts on our professional development. The data analysis process was highly iterative in nature, involving repeated meetings among the four post-docs to reflect, discuss and create themes that evolved from the discussions.ResultsThe CHESAI PDRF provided multiple spaces for our engagement and capacity development in the field of HPSR. These spaces provided us with a wide range of learning experiences, including teaching and research, policy networking, skills for academic writing, engaging practitioners, co-production and community dialogue. Our reflections suggest that institutions providing PDRF such as this are valuable if they provide environments endowed with adequate resources, good leadership and spaces for innovation. Further, the PDRFs need to be grounded in a community of HPSR practice, and provide opportunities for the post-docs to gain an in-depth understanding of the broader theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the field.ConclusionThe study concludes that PDRF is a useful approach to capacity building in HPSR, but it needs be embedded in a community of practice for fellows to benefit. More academic institutions in Africa need to adopt innovative and flexible support for emerging leaders, researchers and practitioners to strengthen our health systems.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-doctoral research fellowship as a health policy and systems research capacity development intervention: a case of the CHESAI initiative

Lembani

Teddy

Molosiwa

et al. 2016

Health Res Policy Sys

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“…The more senior group, who are attending their last JAS, interact with and peer-mentor those attending their first JAS. This is described in more detail elsewhere [2,14,15]. JAS sessions create formal and informal opportunities for fellows to cultivate interpersonal relationships.…”

Section: Design Of the Carta Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority (61%) of the between-CARTA-fellows collaborative papers were produced during the doctoral intervention period. We also identified one publication which involved all fellows from one cohort describing their experience of CARTA [15], and one cross-cohort and cross-disciplinary collaborative paper which included a CARTA senior academic, describing the engagement between librarians brought together by CARTA [20].…”

Section: Patterns Of Collaboration In Carta Fellows' Publicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing collaborative research output between early-career health researchers in Africa: lessons from the CARTA fellowship program

Uwizeye

Karimi

Otukpa

et al. 2020

Global Health Action

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In 2008 nine African Universities and four African research institutions, in partnership with non-African institutions started the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) to strengthen doctoral training and research capacity on health in Africa. This study describes particular aspects of the CARTA program that promotes collaboration between the PhD fellows in the program, and determines the patterns of collaborative publications that resulted from the intervention. We reviewed program monitoring and evaluation documents and conducted a bibliometric analysis of 806 peer-reviewed publications by CARTA fellows published between 2011 and 2018. Results indicate that recruiting multidisciplinary fellows from various institutions, encouraging registration of doctoral-level fellows outside home institutions, and organizing joint research seminars stimulated collaborative research on health-related topics. Fellows collaborated among themselves and with non-CARTA researchers. Fellows co-authored 75 papers (10%) between themselves, of which 53 (71%) and 42 (56%) included fellows of different cohorts and different disciplines respectively, and 19 (25%) involved fellows of different institutions. CARTA graduates continued to publish with each other after graduating-11% of the collaborative publications occurred post-graduationindicating that the collaborative approach was maintained after exiting from the program. However, not all fellows contributed to publishing collaborative papers. The study recommends concerted effort towards enhancing collaborative publications among the CARTA fellows, both doctoral and post-doctoral, which can include holding research exchange forums and collaborative grant-writing workshops.

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“…(Cohort 2 survey) Cohort 1 fellows confirmed that new methodological skills were learned and learning from each other was part of that process. 23 …”

Section: Phd Fellows' Experience Of Multidisciplinary Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building the capacity to solve complex health challenges in sub-Saharan Africa: CARTA’S multidisciplinary PhD training

Fonn

Egesah

Cole

et al. 2016

Can J Public Health

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OBJECTIVES:To develop a curriculum (Joint Advanced Seminars [JASs]) that produced PhD fellows who understood that health is an outcome of multiple determinants within complex environments and that approaches from a range of disciplines is required to address health and development within the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA). We sought to attract PhD fellows, supervisors and teaching faculty from a range of disciplines into the program. METHODS:Multidisciplinary teams developed the JAS curriculum. CARTA PhD fellowships were open to academics in consortium member institutions, irrespective of primary discipline, interested in doing a PhD in public and population health. Supervisors and JAS faculty were recruited from CARTA institutions. We use routine JAS evaluation data (closed and open-ended questions) collected from PhD fellows at every JAS, a survey of one CARTA cohort, and an external evaluation of CARTA to assess the impact of the JAS curriculum on learning. RESULTS:We describe our pedagogic approach, arguing its centrality to an appreciation of multiple disciplines, and illustrate how it promotes working in multidisciplinary ways. CARTA has attracted PhD fellows, supervisors and JAS teaching faculty from across a range of disciplines. Evaluations indicate PhD fellows have a greater appreciation of how disciplines other than their own are important to understanding health and its determinants and an appreciation and capacity to employ mixed methods research. CONCLUSIONS:In the short term, we have been effective in promoting an understanding of multidisciplinarity, resulting in fellows using methods from beyond their discipline of origin. This curriculum has international application. I n the complex world we live in, social, physical, historical, and other contextual factors impact on both the distribution and prevalence of disease and on the effectiveness of interventions to prevent or reduce disease.1-3 It follows that challenges in public health require a multidisciplinary approach. 4Effective public health researchers need to be literate in other research approaches and methods in addition to having a thorough grounding in their own discipline. They should understand that there are alternative ways of generating knowledge, and should have an appreciation of the theoretical basis to different research methods and the importance of matching methods to specific research goals. This requires familiarity with the philosophy of science (ontology and epistemology) and facilitates interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research approaches.Various multi-, inter-and transdisciplinary programs have been developed with the aim of enabling scholars to engage in collaborative research.5-7 Here we describe the development, delivery and process evaluation of the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), which aims to develop a critical mass of effective researchers in public health in sub-Saharan Africa. One impetus for developing CARTA, consequent on the scarcity ...

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Sharing perspectives and experiences of doctoral fellows in the first cohort of Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa: 2011–2014

Cited by 14 publications

References 14 publications

Post-doctoral research fellowship as a health policy and systems research capacity development intervention: a case of the CHESAI initiative

Post-doctoral research fellowship as a health policy and systems research capacity development intervention: a case of the CHESAI initiative

Increasing collaborative research output between early-career health researchers in Africa: lessons from the CARTA fellowship program

Building the capacity to solve complex health challenges in sub-Saharan Africa: CARTA’S multidisciplinary PhD training

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