TY - JOUR
T1 - Higher education institution partnership to strengthen the health care workforce in Afghanistan
AU - Porta, Carolyn M.
AU - Mann, Erin M.
AU - Amiri, Rohina
AU - Avery, Melissa D.
AU - Azim, Sheba
AU - Conway-Klaassen, Janice M.
AU - Golzareh, Parvin
AU - Joya, Mahdawi
AU - Mwikarago, Emil Ivan
AU - Nejabi, Mohammad Bashir
AU - Olejniczak, Megan
AU - Radhakrishnan, Raghu
AU - Tengera, Olive
AU - Thomas, Manuel S.
AU - Weinkauf, Julia L.
AU - Wiesner, Stephen M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Sciedu Press. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Despite ongoing insecurity, Afghanistan has demonstrated improvement in health outcomes. Reasons for this success include a strategic public-private health service delivery model and investment in Afghan health care workforce development. Afghan universities have the primary responsibility for ensuring that an adequate health care workforce is available to private and public health care delivery settings. Most entry-level health care providers working in Afghanistan are educated within the country. However, university constraints, including faculty shortages and limited access to professional development, have affected both the flow of the health care workforce pipeline and the skill levels and competencies of those who do enter the workforce. Aware of these constraints and workforce needs, the administration at Kabul University of Medical Sciences (KUMS), working in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education, prioritized investment in strengthening technical and academic capabilities within four faculties (anesthesiology, dentistry, medical laboratory technology, and midwifery). KUMS partnered with the University of Minnesota in 2017 with United States Agency for International Development support through the University Support and Workforce Development Program. Together they established a unique training-of-trainers (TOT) faculty development program to improve faculty knowledge and skills specific to their technical expertise, as well as knowledge and skills in instructional design and research methods. In this article, we describe the successes and challenges associated with partnership development, implementation, and sustainability.
AB - Despite ongoing insecurity, Afghanistan has demonstrated improvement in health outcomes. Reasons for this success include a strategic public-private health service delivery model and investment in Afghan health care workforce development. Afghan universities have the primary responsibility for ensuring that an adequate health care workforce is available to private and public health care delivery settings. Most entry-level health care providers working in Afghanistan are educated within the country. However, university constraints, including faculty shortages and limited access to professional development, have affected both the flow of the health care workforce pipeline and the skill levels and competencies of those who do enter the workforce. Aware of these constraints and workforce needs, the administration at Kabul University of Medical Sciences (KUMS), working in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education, prioritized investment in strengthening technical and academic capabilities within four faculties (anesthesiology, dentistry, medical laboratory technology, and midwifery). KUMS partnered with the University of Minnesota in 2017 with United States Agency for International Development support through the University Support and Workforce Development Program. Together they established a unique training-of-trainers (TOT) faculty development program to improve faculty knowledge and skills specific to their technical expertise, as well as knowledge and skills in instructional design and research methods. In this article, we describe the successes and challenges associated with partnership development, implementation, and sustainability.
KW - Faculty development
KW - Health sciences
KW - Health workforce development
KW - Instructional design
KW - Research training
KW - Teaching methods
KW - Training of trainers
KW - University partnership
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078357247&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85078357247&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5430/ijhe.v9n2p95
DO - 10.5430/ijhe.v9n2p95
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85078357247
SN - 1927-6044
VL - 9
SP - 95
EP - 106
JO - International Journal of Higher Education
JF - International Journal of Higher Education
IS - 2
ER -