HPM hosts forum for international public health professionals and executive doctoral students

UNC executive doctoral students and Dr. Egil Marstein (right, foreground), of the Center for Health Management Studies at the BI Norwegian School of Management, listen to a presentation.

Doctoral students and public health professionals from across the U.S. and around the world were on UNC’s campus Jan. 4-7 as part of a health policy and leadership forum that addressed a wide range of issues – from health policy for U.S. Veterans Affairs facilities to health structures and policy in Norway. The event was held at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Three times each year, distance learners in the Doctoral Program in Health Leadership (DrPH) in the School’s health policy and management department travel to the UNC campus for special lectures and training activities. The January visit coincided with a meeting of the UNC-led International Network for Doctoral Training in Health Leadership (NETDOC), members of whom observed the distance learning program in action and made presentations about health issues in their geographic regions.

NETDOC is a consortium of schools that aims to build a cooperative network of partner programs dedicated to accelerating the pace and reach of urgently needed doctoral-level leadership training for senior health professionals around the world.

Dr. Suzanne Havala Hobbs addresses NETDOC members during the group’s business meeting.

Members will share curricula, distance learning technology and school resources. They plan to function as a well-coordinated network in which faculty members teach across universities and students may take courses or portions of courses from schools other than the schools in which they are enrolled. The group’s goal is to contribute substantially to efforts to improve the health of people worldwide by addressing the critical need for global leadership development within the senior public health workforce.

On Jan. 5, NETDOC presenters spoke to students in the executive doctoral program in health leadership about health challenges and changes in health services facing the Nordic countries, France, the U.K. and Canada. In attendance as well were representatives from University of Georgia, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of Minnesota. Morris Weinberger, PhD, UNC’s Vergil N. Slee Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Quality Management, also spoke to the students about leadership lessons from the U.S. Veterans Affairs health system.

Members of the 2010-2011 cohort in the executive doctoral program posed in the atrium last August.

UNC’s executive doctoral program in health leadership prepares mid-career professionals for senior-level positions in organizations working to improve the public’s health. The three-year, cohort-based distance program confers a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree in health administration. The program targets diverse individuals working full-time in the U.S. or internationally with substantial leadership responsibilities in communities, organizations and institutions. Examples include domestic or international health directors, mid-career managers in government agencies or foundations, leaders within nonprofit and non-governmental organizations, program officers and other mid-level or senior managers, and others working within the health field, including entrepreneurs and individuals working in nontraditional settings affecting the public’s health.

Dr. Suzanne Havala Hobbs

Students remain working in-country as they complete their degrees. With the exception of three short visits to Chapel Hill or an alternate site in each of years one and two, learning takes place in participants’ homes and offices, away from the UNC campus.

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.