Remember being a student on the first day of class? We usually received a course syllabus, and a generation ago that syllabus began with a list of subjects studied; lists like:
- Epidemiology of childhood illness
- Physiology of fever
- Metabolism of acetaminophen
Astute educators later realized that the objective of education is not simply to study. Rather it is to learn. So the syllabi of fifteen years ago morphed into learning objectives, with contents like:
- Describe the epidemiology of childhood illness
- Explain the physiology of fever
- List the steps in metabolism of acetaminophen
But preparation for actual practice of healthcare is inadequate with learning alone. So today education has moved on toward competency objectives. In other words, learner are ultimately measured their ability to apply newly acquired information and skills to real life situations, with competencies such as:
- Capability of assessing a febrile child and reaching a correct diagnosis
- Ability to evaluate the impact of fever and treat accordingly
- Capacity to prescribe a correct antipyretic and evaluate its effectiveness and potential adverse impacts
Since 2003 INMED has developed and tested a variety of competencies relevant to equipping international medicine and public health personnel. Today we expect at the completion of the INMED Diploma is International Medicine & Public Health graduates in the context of a low-resource community will be able to:
- Prevent, diagnose and treat the leading diseases of poverty
- Prevent, diagnose and treat HIV infection
- Provide for the health of pregnant women and newborns
- Demonstrate proficiency in relevant clinical skills
- Advance community-wide health promotion and death/disability prevention
- Assure that healthcare interventions are culturally appropriate
- Mitigate disaster risk and respond to disaster events
- Design and implement effective healthcare as part of a leadership team
Studying. Learning. Competency to practice. The progress is wonderful, particular on behalf of the next febrile child.