Wipfli Heather, Kotlewski Jennifer A
a Institute for Global Health , University of Southern California , Los Angeles , CA , USA.
Glob Public Health. 2014;9(7):827-40. doi: 10.1080/17441692.2014.924023. Epub 2014 Jun 23.
Global health governance benefits from participants well-versed in the realities of international policy-making. Consequently, educational programmes must establish more opportunities for students to engage in global health policy development. This paper examines a unique global health governance and diplomacy practicum programme at the University of Southern California, designed for Master of Public Health candidates. Through the programme, students act as official non-governmental delegates to the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland through organisational partnerships. Students and collaborating organisations were asked to complete an online post-participation survey examining the perceived quality of the experience. Through the survey, students indicated reinforcement of classroom learning, continued or heightened interest in global health policy and enthusiasm in recommending the programme to other students. Organisations perceived students to be adequately prepared and indicated their continued desire to work with students in the programme. The data collected suggest that the programme was successful in providing students with a worthwhile experience that developed skills in global health diplomacy and promoted interest and critical thinking concerning international policy-making processes. A discussion of strengths and challenges serves as a blueprint for the creation of future practicum programmes.
全球卫生治理受益于精通国际决策实际情况的参与者。因此，教育项目必须为学生创造更多参与全球卫生政策制定的机会。本文考察了南加州大学一个独特的全球卫生治理与外交实践项目，该项目是为公共卫生硕士候选人设计的。通过该项目，学生通过组织合作伙伴关系，作为官方非政府代表参加在瑞士日内瓦举行的世界卫生大会。学生和合作组织被要求完成一份在线参与后调查问卷，以考察对该经历的感知质量。通过调查，学生表示强化了课堂学习，对全球卫生政策的兴趣持续或增强，并热衷于向其他学生推荐该项目。组织认为学生准备充分，并表示他们继续希望与该项目中的学生合作。收集到的数据表明，该项目成功地为学生提供了一次有价值的经历，培养了全球卫生外交技能，并促进了对国际决策过程的兴趣和批判性思维。对优势和挑战的讨论为未来实践项目的创建提供了蓝图。
