In a recent article for Scientific American, Nina Dudnik, CEO of the non-profit organization Seeding Labs, which supports the work of scientists in resource-scarce countries, argued that researchers in developing nations are too often overlooked in the global fight against disease. Inadequate funding and lack of access to advanced equipment causes many studies to be downgraded or abandoned. As a result, this research seldom makes the pages of mainstream medical journals, where it might gain the attention of colleagues and funders.
For the past three decades, HVO has worked to facilitate collaboration between health workers in high-income countries and their colleagues in low-resource settings. Our volunteers frequently report learning as much as they teach on their assignments. Dedicated on-site coordinators at our overseas project sites have served as mentors to HVO volunteers, inspiring them in their practice here at home. In turn, HVO volunteers have been able to connect trainees with opportunities for continuing education and professional development. Such opportunities benefit the trainee and advance the profession as a whole in that trainee’s native country. HVO is proud of the many friendships and partnerships that have developed at our overseas project sites. This international collaboration is crucial to improving health outcomes and strengthening health systems around the globe.
These partnerships are at the heart of HVO’s mission and have inspired the topic of a one-time, special edition e-journal produced in collaboration with Frontiers in Public Health Education and Promotion: “International Partnerships for Strengthening Health Care Workforce Capacity: Models of Collaborative Education.”
“HVO is thrilled about this research topic,” says HVO evaluation specialist April Pinner, “We hope it will serve to cross-pollinate best practices and contribute to the global dialogue on building health worker capacity through training and education. More specifically, we hope it will demonstrate how critical international partnerships and on-going collaboration with individual or institutional partners are to ensuring educational programs are sustainable.”
With Frontiers’ open-access model, we hope the research presented in this special edition will reach a wider, global audience. Our goal is to facilitate and inspire health workers around the globe to embrace collaboration when designing educational programs or providing continuing education in the classroom, clinic, operating room, or the laboratory. We believe the participation of all the world’s health workers is needed to make lasting improvements to global health care.
If you would like to contribute to the journal, detailed information about this research topic can be accessed by visiting the Frontiers Journal page. Due to continued interest from our community in this exciting research topic, the deadline has been extended to January 1, 2017.
We hope you will participate and join us in advancing global dialogue and collaboration to improve access and quality of health care around the world.