M-HIRST HEE March 2024
INVITATION
The Malawi HIV Implementation Research Scientist Training (M-HIRST) program is seeking applications from postgraduate students, academics, research scientists, program implementers or policy makers from institutions that conduct health-related research or implement HIV programs in Malawi, who have interest in or are currently conducting Health Economic Evaluation (HEE) and HIV Implementation Science (IS) activities. Applicants will complete a blended virtual and physical course in collaboration with the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill – UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences.
COURSE SUMMARY
Health care technology is defined broadly as: “programs, processes, procedures, drugs or other interventions aimed at improving health, preventing disease, alleviating symptoms or postponing death of human populations”. This course provides an introduction to the methods and application of economic evaluation to health care technologies. Policy makers should allocate resources to the most efficient competing technologies and ensure equity in access to cost-effective technologies; these decisions can be informed, but not dictated by, quantitative analyses of costs and benefits. Topics covered in the course include basic methods used to identify when an economic evaluation may be useful, measure and summarize health outcomes and estimate their value to patients or to the public, identify resources used and estimate their costs, and understand and interpret cost-effectiveness results. The key deliverable for this course is for participants to develop a proposal and conduct an HEE-HIV-IS research project which will lead to a publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
This course is fully funded by MHIRST and will be a blended delivery i.e. virtual and in-person sessions in Mangochi from 27th to 31st March 2023.
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
This course has two broad learning objectives: to teach students techniques enabling them to: (1) understand when health economic evaluations may be useful and basic requirements for conducting one, and (2) understand and interpret results of economic evaluations.
- I. Techniques for Economic Evaluation of Health Care – Students will learn about the rationale for conducting a health economic evaluation and be able to describe health outcomes and cost measures that are relevant to healthcare decisions, reflecting the perspective of the analysis. Students also will learn how to identify relevant data and adjust these as needed for analyses and interpretation.
- II. Understand, Report and Interpret Results of Economic Analyses – Students are expected to understand the requirements for reporting economic analyses and be able to critique in a clear and appropriate manner economic evaluations.
ELIGIBILITY
- 1. Currently enrolled in or completed a health-related postgraduate training program (Master’s degree or PhD);
- 2. Prior completion of introductory modules in statistics and epidemiology.
- 3. Basic working knowledge of Microsoft Excel.
- 4. Employed in an academic or research institution, government or non-governmental organization implementing HIV-related or HEE programs in Malawi or have strong linkages with public institutions or non-governmental institutions that have a track history of delivering HIV services.
- 5. Should have a working proposal of a health economic evaluation research project with an HIV Implementation Science component as their research dissertation topic or at their respective institution (This is a must).
- 6. Have a supervisor or mentor with strong background in HIV or HEE research or service delivery.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Interested applicants are required to:
- 1. Fill-out an application form using the following link: HEE Short Course Application Form. (DO NOT fill in the google form without submitting your PDF document).
- 2. Submit a single PDF document to the mhirstcoordinator@medcol.mw that includes a
- • motivation or letter of interest (not more than one page) detailing why they want to do the course.
- • one-page summary of their proposed HEE and HIV IS research idea.
- • updated Biosketch or Curriculum Vitae (DO NOT submit your PDF document without filling in the google form).
The deadline for receiving applications is Friday, 10th March 2023 at 17:00 hrs. Late and incomplete submissions will not be considered and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
ABOUT THE SPONSORS
The Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) was established in 2021 as a transitional university from the College of Medicine and Kamuzu College of Nursing which were then constituent colleges of the University of Malawi. Its mission is “to be an academic centre of excellence in the training of doctors and other health professionals in clinical service and medical research, responsive to the health needs of Malawi and its neighbours within the Southern African region”. Since 2015, the National Institutes of Health-Fogarty International Centre in the USA has been funding the KUHeS and University of North Carolina to establish and roll-out the Malawi HIV Implementation Science Research Training (M-HIRST) Program which aims at building and strengthening local capacity for designing and conducting research studies to generate evidence that accelerates the scale up of evidence-based HIV interventions
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