A North-South-South Partnership in Higher Education to Develop Health Research Capacity in the Democratic Republic of Congo: the Challenge of Finding a Common Language

Abstract

Background: Globally, increasing numbers of higher education institutions (HEIs) in non-English-speaking countries have adopted English as a medium of instruction (EMI), because of the perception that this provides opportunities to attract high calibre students and academic staff, and engage with the international research community. We report an evaluation of a North-South-South collaboration to develop health research capacity in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by establishing a postgraduate programme in nutritional epidemiology at the Kinshasa School of Public Health (KSPH), where English was adopted as the medium of instruction. We report experiences and perceptions of stakeholders, facilitators and students about using EMI.Methods: In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted between October-December 2019 among purposively sampled stakeholders (8), facilitators (11) and students (12) involved in the programme from all three partner institutions (University of Kinshasa; University of KwaZulu-Natal, South-Africa; University of Bergen, Norway). Interviews were conducted in participants’ language of preference (English or French), audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and translated into English when required. Analysis employed a thematic approach. Results: Most participants viewed EMI positively, reporting that studying in English created opportunities to access relevant literature, improve interactions with the scientific community and advance their careers. As a result of adopting EMI, some students had opportunities to present research findings at international conferences, and publish their research in English. English-speaking researchers from partner institutions were able to participate in supervision of students’ research. However, inadequate English competency, particularly among students, was challenging, with some students reporting being unable to understand or interact in class, which negatively affected their academic performance. Further, EMI created barriers at KSPH among academic staff who were not proficient in English, leading to lack of integration with other postgraduate programmes. Participants suggested additional English language support for EMI.Conclusion: Partnerships between HEIs are a powerful tool to develop research capacity in low income countries and improve research outputs and evidence-based decision-making. EMI was able to develop the common ground required to establish a collaboration between HEIs where several languages were spoken. However, investing in wide-ranging supports to develop English proficiency is essential to ensure that challenges do not outweigh the benefits.

Strengthening Cultural Competence in Health Professionals Through Partnerships: A Case Study of a Health Collaborative Exchange Between Malawi and Norway in Trauma Care and Emergency Medicine

“…Understanding external factors within health settings is important in health care, including the governance culture and structures. 30 Another important finding of our study is based on differences in health seeking behaviors in the 2 different contexts. Severe and advanced health cases were reported in Malawi compared to Norway.…”

“…Understanding external factors within health settings is important in health care, including the governance culture and structures. 30 …”

“…Participants actively showed a great desire in enhancing their knowledge, skills, and competencies. One striking example is related to how the participants cope with the language challenge, which is a known barrier for effective communication, 30 interaction and in the execution of work tasks. However, because the desire to learn was there, many of the participants resorted to resourceful strategies of using their colleagues as resources in solving the language puzzle while others utilized information technologies and online learning platforms.…”

Achieving a Robust Mentoring and Research Capacity Program in a LMIC – The BRAINS Faculty Development Model

“…Each of the mentors contributed richly to the project and improved both the capacity of junior researchers and the research environment through the introduction of skills, expertise, use of facilities & laboratory and diverse work cultures. The major strength of BRAINS is local leadership made up of a multidisciplinary team a proven crucial determinant of sustainability of the gains of RTMP and other funded schemes in LMIC [21][22][23][24]. Conclusion: The BRAINS project succeeded in bringing together a large number of experienced and skilled specialist locally and in the global north to mentor and build research capacity of junior faculty in CMUL.…”