University of Global Health Equity

University of Global Health Equity

Founded	2015
Type	Private not-for-profit university
Location	Rwanda, Africa
Executive Director	Peter Drobac, MD, MPH
Key people	Paul Farmer, MD, MPH, Agnes Binagwaho, MD, M(Ped), PhD Hellen Amuguni, DVM, MA, PhD
Affiliations	Cummings Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Harvard Medical School, Tufts University, Government of Rwanda
Website	ughe.org

University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) is a groundbreaking health sciences university in Rwanda focused on training the next generation of global leaders in health care delivery. An initiative of Partners In Health, UGHE is a private, not-for-profit, accredited institution leveraging expertise and resources from the Government of Rwanda, Harvard Medical School, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, and other key partners to create a global forum for delivery-focused teaching, research, clinical care, and implementation.

Uniquely rooted in the principle of equity and the science of delivery, the UGHE academic experience combines experiential learning and mentorship, problem-based learning in small classrooms, and a learning environment that connects students and faculty with world-class content. The University harnesses the best new ideas in higher education by integrating cutting-edge technology platforms while immersing students in real life health care delivery scenarios. The proximity of the UGHE classroom to the populations the students aim to serve offers a critically important training environment, as field- and classroom-based learning expose students to best practices utilized by a strong health system, and the ongoing delivery challenges that threaten it.

Designed to create public health professionals who have not only clinical knowledge, but also an understanding of the social and systemic forces that impact health care delivery, UGHE is cultivating a new generation of global health leaders who possess the vision to tackle big challenges and the pragmatic leadership skills to effect transformational change.

Catalytic partners that have helped to launch the University include: Cummings Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Government of Rwanda. The Cummings Foundation committed an initial $15 million for Phase I of the University and was instrumental in raising matching funds from other sources.^[1]

History

In 2013, the Government of Rwanda and Partners In Health were considering building a medical school next to Butaro Hospital. At that same time, Joyce and Bill Cummings, founders of the Cummings Foundation in Woburn, Massachusetts, visited Rwanda for the ribbon-cutting of the Butaro Outpatient Cancer Infusion Center, whose construction had been funded by the Cummings Foundation.^[2] During their visit, the Cummings shared an expanded vision for the proposed medical school that would be "pan-African" and would include multiple health science disciplines, including veterinary medicine, dentistry and nursing.

Paul Farmer responded to this idea by writing in an email, "What a great vision, and one that squares with the Rwandan vision of pulling people up by building a ‘knowledge’ economy while delivering care."^[3]

As a pioneer in health care delivery, PIH has worked hand-in-hand with governments to strengthen health systems - hospitals, health centers, and community health worker networks - with high quality care and socioeconomic support. By partnering with governments to strengthen public health systems, collaborating with communities to design and deliver sustainable programs, and working with leading academic institutions to disseminate knowledge, PIH has emerged as a leader in global health care delivery. PIH and its academic partners at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have endeavored to establish an intellectual framework for this emerging field, creating training and research programs that are informed by implementation.^[4]

Nowhere has the impact of this approach - linking effective delivery systems to an equity agenda - had more profound results than in Rwanda, which in just over 10 years has achieved the most dramatic gains in population health and poverty reduction in the world.

The confluence of these advances in implementation, research, and education forged the conception of UGHE. Recognizing that, like health, access to quality education is a human right, PIH took the first steps in realizing a long-sought aspiration — to create a university that would advance the cause of global health equity by training a new generation of transformational leaders in health care.

Launched in September 2015,^[5] UGHE is a new kind of university focused on delivering the highest quality of health care by addressing the critical social and systemic forces causing inequities and inefficiencies in health care delivery.^[6]

Leadership

On April 3, 2017, UGHE appointed former Minister of Health of Rwanda, Agnes Binagwaho, MD, M(Ped), PhD, as Vice Chancellor of the University.^[7][8] As Vice Chancellor of UGHE, Professor Binagwaho will continue to establish the University’s reputation as a global hub for health care delivery science. She will oversee the expansion of the University’s education and research programs, cultivate global partnerships, and prepare the university to move into its permanent home, a state-of-the-art campus in northern Rwanda due to open in 2018.

Academics

UGHE has created a curricular platform specifically designed to take on the complex, multi-dimensional challenges of equitable care.

Master of Science in Global Health Delivery

Launched in September 2015, the Master of Science in Global Health Delivery (MGHD) is UGHE’s flagship academic program. The University’s pioneering students will graduate in May 2017. Modeled after a similar program at Harvard Medical School, the MGHD provides a one-of-a-kind learning experience fundamentally rooted in the principles of global health, One Health, epidemiology, global health policy, management, health finance, and leadership.

The MGHD curriculum uses innovative learning methodology and pedagogy to address complex challenges by investigating emerging delivery systems. With faculty from Harvard Medical School, Yale University, Tufts University, Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, and the Rwanda Biomedical Center, our dynamic team of educators empowers students to drive transformational, systemic changes in health systems.^[9]

Executive Education

UGHE’s Executive Education certificate courses develop professionals using critical competencies central to strengthening health care delivery systems.

Designed to cultivate leaders within public sector, private sector, nonprofit, and non-governmental organizations throughout the health system, UGHE’s customized Executive Education programs afford organizations the flexibility to tailor a unique and comprehensive learning experience for their employees centered around health system strengthening and management and leadership education.

Learners investigate health care delivery in both rural and urban settings through field and classroom learning. Training programs incorporate case studies using problem-based and experiential learning, coupled with individual mentorship and coaching. Executive Education faculty are international and local implementation experts from leading academic institutions, including Harvard Medical School, Yale University, Duke University, Tufts University, and Rwanda’s Ministry of Health. Learners explore the successes and challenges of health program implementation in Rwanda and beyond, combining contextual knowledge with delivery experience to develop replicable platforms that can be applied within their own country’s health care system.^[10]

Campus Development

In 2016, UGHE began construction on its first permanent campus in Butaro, Rwanda. When complete, the university will house state-of-the-art classrooms, teaching laboratories, a clinical simulation center, and information commons, as well as administrative, dining, and lodging facilities to support over 1,000 students and faculty. As the university grows, a second campus will be added in Kigali at Masaka, further providing students with access to a broad set of clinical disciplines, in both rural and urban settings. By 2025, UGHE will be a convening space for the world’s best thinkers and innovators in health care delivery.

The university is composed of complementary rural and urban campuses. In December 2016, UGHE began construction on the 250-acre Butaro academic campus, which is embedded in a rural primary health care delivery system. The first phase of the campus opens in 2018 with classrooms, administrative buildings, a library, and dorms. The urban campus will be located in Masaka Sector, Kicukiro District in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, the heart of a planned “medical city”. In addition to leveraging two existing clinical facilities – Butaro Hospital and Masaka Hospital in Kigali – UGHE will utilize PIH-supported sites across Rwanda to enable a breadth of educational opportunities in clinical and delivery settings. These campuses were designed by Shepley Bulfinch, one of the oldest architecture firms in continuous practice in the United States.

UGHE also plans to expand its curriculum to include medical, nursing, dentistry, and veterinary degree programs. According to Dr. Peter Drobac, executive director, the target is to make the campus a global hub for innovation and healthcare delivery.

References