Curricular innovations to address inequalities in global health education
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
Global Health education (GHE) has expanded dramatically, with new degrees and expanded competencies in medical curricula. Yet, Global Health (GH) is also going through significant reckoning and debate around inequalities in the field. GH degrees are predominantly based in high-income countries and inaccessible to most global majority students. Some suggest GH education itself contributes to reproducing inequalities in GH. Thus, both educators and policy-makers require evidence and tools to support more representative and authentic educational experiences which can adequately equip our future graduates.
Objectives
To present educational innovations which gesture towards responding to the stark inequalities in Global/Public Health education. These include a unique project that experiments with disrupting current power dynamics through co-design and co-delivery of a curriculum on Syrian healthcare by colleagues with lived experience, and a student-staff partnership to integrate self-reflexivity and positionality (SRP) in curricula at Imperial College London (UK).
Results
Qualitative data shows that the Syrian Curriculum has resulted in enhanced student experience, being consistently cited as a highlight of the curriculum, whilst alsoenhancing inclusivity for many students. SRP supplemented this by providing students with tools to engage in open, respectful discussions and critically reflect on personal biases that impact class dynamics.
Conclusions
These projects provide tools for educators and policy-makers across European universities to address current challenges in GH education. Nonetheless, these innovations should principally be seen as tools to reflect and advocate for fundamental changes towards more representative structures in GH.
Key messages
• Curriculum innovations offer key tools to address inequalities in GHE, enhancing student experience/inclusivity.
• Yet, these remain limited without fundamental change towards a more representative sector.
Global Health education (GHE) has expanded dramatically, with new degrees and expanded competencies in medical curricula. Yet, Global Health (GH) is also going through significant reckoning and debate around inequalities in the field. GH degrees are predominantly based in high-income countries and inaccessible to most global majority students. Some suggest GH education itself contributes to reproducing inequalities in GH. Thus, both educators and policy-makers require evidence and tools to support more representative and authentic educational experiences which can adequately equip our future graduates.
Objectives
To present educational innovations which gesture towards responding to the stark inequalities in Global/Public Health education. These include a unique project that experiments with disrupting current power dynamics through co-design and co-delivery of a curriculum on Syrian healthcare by colleagues with lived experience, and a student-staff partnership to integrate self-reflexivity and positionality (SRP) in curricula at Imperial College London (UK).
Results
Qualitative data shows that the Syrian Curriculum has resulted in enhanced student experience, being consistently cited as a highlight of the curriculum, whilst alsoenhancing inclusivity for many students. SRP supplemented this by providing students with tools to engage in open, respectful discussions and critically reflect on personal biases that impact class dynamics.
Conclusions
These projects provide tools for educators and policy-makers across European universities to address current challenges in GH education. Nonetheless, these innovations should principally be seen as tools to reflect and advocate for fundamental changes towards more representative structures in GH.
Key messages
• Curriculum innovations offer key tools to address inequalities in GHE, enhancing student experience/inclusivity.
• Yet, these remain limited without fundamental change towards a more representative sector.
Date Issued
2024-11
Date Acceptance
2024-10-01
Citation
European Journal of Public Health, 2024, 34 (Supplement 3), pp.iii479-iii479
ISSN
1101-1262
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Start Page
iii479
End Page
iii479
Journal / Book Title
European Journal of Public Health
Volume
34
Issue
Supplement 3
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
License URL
Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckae144.1231
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ckae144.1231
Date Publish Online
2024-10-28