‘Noncommunicable diseases have become the most common cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Consortium of Universities for Global Health Chair Dr Timothy Brewer highlights the organisation’s efforts to address these and  other global health challenges through research, training and advocacy’

‘THE CONSORTIUM OF Universities for Global Health (CUGH) was formed in 2008 to create a platform for academic-based individuals conducting global health research, global health education and global health service programmes to come together and share ideas and best practices. Essentially, the CUGH enables academics to exchange knowledge to better address complex and challenging health problems.’

‘CUGH members are working with partners to build healthcare capacity in low-resource settings and to create research programmes addressing pressing societal questions relating to health. These could include new treatments for chronic diseases, for example. Eighty per cent of all deaths in the world from noncommunicable diseases occur in low- and middle-income countries, and there are inadequate systems in place to treat pain, cancer or cardiovascular disease. CUGH-affiliated universities explore these and other topics. Our job is to generate knowledge and to train the next generation of researchers, educators and practitioners; that is what we do. At CUGH our aim is to bring together people who share common interests and make discoveries that result in practical solutions for the world’s challenges.’

I was interested to learn more about CUGH through a recent article by the chair of the CUGH board, Dr Timothy Brewer. He outlines how CUGH is working to build global  healthcare capacity to address non-communicable disease. You can download his article here: http://www.internationalinnovation.com/building-global-healthcare-capacity-2/

CITATION: Identifying Interprofessional Global Health Competencies for 21st-Century Health Professionals.

Kristen Jogerst, BS, Brian Callender, MD, Virginia Adams, RN, PhD, Jessica Evert, MD, Elise Fields, PharmD, Thomas Hall, MD, DrPH, Jody Olsen, PhD, MSW, Virginia Rowthorn, JD, Sharon Rudy, PhD, Jiabin Shen, M.Ed, Lisa Simon, DMD, Herica Torres, MSN, Anvar Velji, MD, Lynda L. Wilson, MSN, PhD.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221499961501156X

Email contact: LyndaWilson@uab.edu

ABSTRACT

Background: At the 2008 inaugural meeting of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH), participants discussed the rapid expansion of global health programs and the lack of standardized competencies and curricula to guide these programs. In 2013, CUGH appointed a Global Health Competency Subcommittee and charged this subcommittee with identifying broad global health core competencies applicable across disciplines.

Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to describe the Subcommittee’s work and proposed list of interprofessional global health competencies.

Methods: After agreeing on a definition of global health to guide the Subcommittee’s work, members conducted an extensive literature review to identify existing competencies in all fields relevant to global health. Subcommittee members initially identified 82 competencies in 12 separate domains, and proposed four different competency levels. The proposed competencies and domains were discussed during multiple conference calls, and subcommittee members voted to determine the final competencies to be included in two of the four proposed competency levels (global citizen and basic operational level – program oriented).

Findings: The final proposed list included a total of 13 competencies across 8 domains for the Global Citizen Level and 39 competencies across 11 domains for the Basic Operational Program-Oriented Level.

Conclusions: There is a need for continued debate and dialog to validate the proposed set of competencies, and a need for further research to identify best strategies for incorporating these competencies into global health educational programs. Future research should focus on implementation and evaluation of these competencies across a range of educational programs, and further delineating the competencies needed across all four proposed competency levels.

Best wishes, Neil

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