| Title: |
Human Resources for Health (HRH) |
| Keywords: |
Management/leadership
Human Resources
Health systems
|
| Country: |
Netherlands
|
| Institution: |
The Netherlands - Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Amsterdam
|
| Course coordinator: |
M. Dieleman
|
| Date start: |
2021-02-15 |
| Date end: |
2021-02-26 |
| About duration and dates: |
2 weeks |
| Classification: |
advanced optional
|
| Mode of delivery: |
Face to face
|
Course location:
Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
|
| ECTS credit points: |
3 ECTS credits
|
SIT:
Student Investment Hours (SIT): 84 hrs
Contact hours: 38 hrs: 4x 2,5 hrs flipped classroom teaching including discussions, 20 hrs group exercise combined with interactive presentations, 3 hrs role plays, 2 hr debate, and 3 hrs exam.
Self study hours: 46 hrs, including 2 hrs flipped classroom preparations and 8 hrs self study for exam |
|
| Language: |
English
|
Description:
At the end of the module the participants should be able to:
1. Explain the concept of Human Resources in the health sector
2. Analyse and discuss issues related to availability, productivity, performance and competences in human resources in the health sector
3. Discuss strategies to assure sufficient and qualified staff that is equitably distributed
4. Critically appraise staff performance, identify performance problems and recommend appropriate solutions
5. Critically assess training programmes for health workers and provide appropriate recommendations for improvement
6. Analyse organisational behaviour and discuss strategic options and leadership styles for change in a culturally sensitive manner |
|
Assessment Procedures:
• Assessment is summative, and achievement of learning objectives is tested in one written exam. If the HRH module is followed as part of the master’s program, the contribution of the exam to the overall program is as follows: The exam is part of all three program components of the three different tracks of our Master’s program. It counts for 30 % of the Health systems, policy and planning component, which is 23% of the overall exam. If external students participate in the HRH module as a separate module, students can take the exam on a voluntary basis: If external students pass, they receive a certificate and a grade report with their exam mark, the ECTS and EC grade. If they fail or decide not to take the exam, they receive a certificate of attendance. The exam takes place on the last day of the module.
• Students receive a 3 hour open book exam, with essay questions and short case studies to analyse HRH problems, to identify implications and critically describe possible actions. This assessment method corresponds with the learning objectives, content and learning methods
• The exam is marked and marks are distributed to the students 3 weeks after the exam. This is followed by a plenary feedback session during which the exam questions and the answers are presented. When students feel the need, they can make a separate appointment and discuss their exam with the module coordinator individually. This can be face-to-fade or by Skype if the student is not at KIT.
• When they fail (mark < 5,0) they are required to do a re-sit , students with a mark between 5,4 and 5,0 can choose for a re-sit.
• An example of an exam question is added at the end of this form. Students get explained in class during the module that during the exam they receive similar essay questions as they receive during their group work in class. |
|
Content:
• Introduction to Human Resources for Health
• Health labour market and strategic planning of Human Resources for Health
• Calculating workload of health workers
• Migration, retention, motivation and performance of health workers
• Governance and HRH
• Gender and rights in HRH policy and practice
• Training: training needs assessment, competences and curriculum development
• Leadership and organisational change
• HRH financing |
|
Methods:
Most session include the following methods: Introductory lectures, group exercises, plenary discussions
One session has a role play and one session has a debate.
In every session, the focus is on exchanging of experiences and putting these experiences in the context of global evidence and a conceptual framework. |
|
Prerequisites:
This module is part of our MPH course and as such the same level of academic and professional experience is required as the criteria formulated as pre-requisites to enrol in our MPH:
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent academic training in either medicine or another field related to health, such as health sciences, economics, social science or nursing.
• A minimum of three years of experience, including managerial responsibilities in health related services in a low resource country.
• Proven proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Computer literacy is expected.
A minimum TOEFL score of 5.5 or a minimum IELTS score of 6.0 is required |
|
Attendance:
There is no maximum number of students |
|
Selection:
Admission criteria for the course:
• Academic training or a professional qualification in a relevant field
• Work experience in a related area, including experience in management or planning in low- and middle income countries
• Proficiency in spoken and written English (see above for language requirements) |
|
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Scholarships:
Scholarships: For this course funding from the Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP, former NFP) is available for applicants from OKP countries. Additional information available at: https://www.kit.nl/health/study/okp-orange-knowledge-programme/ |
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Major changes since initial accreditation:
Objectives: minor changes to better reflect our pro-poor and cultural sensitive approach:
• Discuss various strategies to assure sufficient and qualified staff that is equitably distributed
• Analyse organisational behaviour and discuss strategic options and leadership styles for change in a culturally sensitive manner
Contents:
Variation in teaching methods:
We have reduced the contact hours for organisational behaviour with 3 hours from 12 to 9 hours to better align the contents with the teachings on this topic in other sections in the ICHD, without compromising the learning for external students. This allows us to add a new topic (see below)
We have introduced flipped classroom teaching in 4 sessions: Migration and retention, performance and motivation, HRH and governance, and Strategic planning for HRH. The aim is to let students prepare themselves better by having on forehand an introductory lecture and limit the class room sessions to interactive teaching (exercises, Q&A)- this leads to 30 minutes less contact time in class Some facilitators spent too much time on the introductory lecture, and the flipped classroom teaching allowed us to change this.
Additional topic:
We have included a session on HRH financing (3 hours)
We have included an optional tutorial session on workload due to the feedback over the years that the topic is important but time insufficient to learn calculations, despite that the training manual is online available
Alignment: We have introduced the health labour market model at the start of the module to assure that students link the module contents to the overall global thinking on HRH (WHO model). We use this model as well to summarise the module contents at the end of the module. During the summary we discuss again the concepts of leadership and management as well as the concepts of governance and the differences between these concepts |
|
Student evaluation:
Overall the students were in the years 2013-2016 positive about the objectives, topics and teaching methods. Points for improvement that were in all years mentioned were: more time dedicated to exercising workload calculations, improving the interactive teaching of some facilitators and time management. Additional topics that were suggested (year 2014-2015): HRH financing and HR information systems. The concepts of leadership and management and of governance needed to be better explained and compared to each other (year 2014-2015 and 2015-2016). And specific remarks for 2015-2016: Module order of sessions: this was not always logical for both groups. |
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Lessons learned:
The module, its contents and teaching methods are appreciated while. At the same time we needed to select specific content areas as HRH is a wide topic with a lot of sub-components. By introducing the health labour market model as the overarching model, KIT is better able to explain how the components we address during the module fit in the overall HRH model. The introduction of the module is always jointly developed with WHO in Geneva- this facilitates embedment of our module in the global thinking on HRH. Introducing at the start and summarizing at the end are crucial components of a successful module. Differences between students in understanding workload made us aware of the importance of offering optional tutorials. |
|
tropEd accreditation:
Accredited in Amsterdam, Jan 2003; reaccredited in Bordeaux, Jan 2007, in Lisbon, May 2012 and in EC TelCo, Dec 2016. This accreditation is valid until Dec 2021. |
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| Email Address: |
F.Maldonado@kit.nl |
| Date Of Record Creation: |
2012-01-19 02:32:38 (W3C-DTF) |
| Date Of Record Release: |
2012-01-19 08:44:37 (W3C-DTF) |
| Date Record Checked: |
2018-07-18 (W3C-DTF) |
| Date Last Modified: |
2020-09-22 11:16:07 (W3C-DTF) |
