Eight universities in low- and middle-income countries affiliated with TDR’s research capacity strengthening programmes have co-developed a standardized curriculum on implementation research. Representatives from the universities convened in Jaipur, India, last month to finalize the curriculum content in collaboration with TDR and the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
Implementation research has been an academic training focus in many high-income countries in recent years. While implementation research (IR) is a recognized tool for addressing health system bottlenecks to effective use of existing interventions, access to training and leadership in IR has not been equitable. Many LMICs face a lack of resources related to IR.
To respond to this need, TDR in collaboration with the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and the institutions affiliated with TDR’s Postgraduate Training Scheme have developed a standardized IR curriculum.
With contributions from HRP (the UNDP / UNFPA / UNICEF / WHO / World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction), IR core competencies across training programmes were evaluated. This revealed coverage and quality gaps that will now be addressed by the standardized curriculum.
Last month, 25 senior faculty members from eight universities met for a five-day workshop hosted by the Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) to finalize the lecture content for the curriculum, which went through two rounds of external reviews. The eight universities are as follows:
- Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
- University of Ghana, Ghana
- IIHMR University, Jaipur, India
- Cheikh Anta Diop University, Senegal
- University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
- BRAC University, Bangladesh
- University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
- University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Mali
Credit: TDR / M. Tekchandani
The Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, also participated in the workshop.
“Implementation science is not a new discipline but in public health, it is definitely a new field,” said Dr S.D. Gupta, Trustee Secretary of IIHMR. “We are trying to develop this field and integrate it with health systems, public health and implementation research.”
TDR’s capacity strengthening work in IR includes a Postgraduate Training Scheme which focuses on implementation research on malaria, tuberculosis, neglected tropical diseases, One Health, surveillance and pandemic preparedness, using standardized IR training materials.
“TDR’s training programmes focus on strengthening the capacity of not only individuals but also of institutions, and this joint initiative exemplifies this objective,” said Dr Mahnaz Vahedi, Scientist at TDR who manages the Postgraduate Training Scheme. “We are also committed to promoting gender and geographic equity and access to implementation research training.”
For more information, please contact Dr Mahnaz Vahedi.