Community-Based Education in Global Low-Resource Settings: A Unique Interprofessional Collaborative Experience in Primary Care Delivery

Abstract

The complex nature of global health issues requires multidisciplinary efforts, namely, interprofessional education (IPE) and collaborative practice. For American students to develop skills and competencies that contribute to global primary care workforces, they must receive community-based education in various environments around the world. This article presents a global health education program that offers community-based, health-related IPE that is centered on primary care, collaborative practice, and a unique three-way partnership. Using a “classroom in the field” hybrid model, this program placed graduate and undergraduate students from different majors into experienced multidisciplinary health care teams and gave them hands-on, firsthand public health experiences in eight low-resource settings in Guatemala. The curricular design was informed by the Consortium of Universities for Global Health’s global health education competencies. At the completion of the program, all partners, participants, and local communities involved saw significant positive outcomes. Notably, students were able to articulate the essentials of primary care in a global context and demonstrate knowledge and skills in global health competencies. Such community-based approaches promote student understanding of disease prevention and health promotion as key elements of primary care that could improve health outcomes for underserved global populations.

The Effectiveness and Flexibility of Practice-Based Teaching: A Long-term, Cross-disciplinary Evaluation

“…Agencies connected either virtually or in a hybrid format (ie, a combination of virtual and in-person interaction). PBT is not only capable of being delivered through virtual connections with agencies but can be enhanced by technology 12 ; it has the ability to connect the classroom to agencies regardless of geographic boundaries. The longer-term benefits to the agency reported in this study reinforce already documented benefits, including cost savings and more targeted programs with better community outcomes.…”

“…PBT courses support students’ learning inside and outside the classroom, 12-14 arm students with workplace skills, benefit collaborating agencies and communities, 9,15 and can be adapted to delivery modalities, 16 which is necessary in times of natural disasters, pandemics, or other scenarios that rapidly change the public health landscape. 17 This importance became evident in 2020-2021 given the understaffed workforce responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…Although this evaluation occurred before the COVID-19 pandemic, the documented outcomes have implications for skill development, especially in a time of increased emphasis on virtual and hybrid learning. 12,23 Agency collaborations in this evaluation were mostly virtual, and course content was delivered via in-class lectures, prerecorded content, and virtual meetings. Long-term outcomes documented in this evaluation demonstrate the utility of PBT as a fundamental pedagogy in public health training and argue for more wide-scale implementation, especially as SPHs redesign courses, reallocate resources, and explore alternate pedagogies for successful skill-based delivery in the current higher education landscape.…”

Celebrating 10 Years of Pedagogy in Health Promotion: An Invitation to Advance the Field of Community Engagement and Service-Learning

“…Building and nurturing community partnerships requires committed faculty and adequate time (Bill & Casola, 2016). Dedication to mutually beneficial partnerships is key (Comeau et al, 2019), as is making sure the university and partner organization’s missions and priorities are in alignment (Ezeonwu, 2020). Supporting co-creation efforts and having regular and frequent communication with community partners are essential (Early & Lasker, 2018; Felter & Baumann, 2019).…”

Enhancing Students’ Understanding of Health Disparities and Social Determinants of Health Through a Community and Research-Based Project

“…Furthermore, these courses must prepare the future public health workforce to implement innovative systems-thinking approaches, programs, and policies to address residents’ public health issues. Community-based learning, a pedagogy frequently used in public health courses, has been found advantageous in enhancing students’ comprehension and application of course concepts (Ezeonwu, 2020; Gardner et al, 2018; Joly, 2020). Moreover, it can improve students’ cultural awareness and create an opportunity for students to become familiar with the community’s resources.…”