Education across the fields of health policy, business and medicine are among the most promising ways to strengthen health systems around the world.
 
Because of Duke's strength in these academic disciplines, a Taskforce of 32 health systems experts from 15 countries will convene in Durham next week to develop recommendations for schools of public health, medicine and business in developed and developing countries. The International Health Systems Curriculum and Competencies Initiative (HSCCI), supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and coordinated by Fuqua's Health Sector Management Program and the Duke Global Health Institute, will emphasize new ways of teaching students about health systems management, policy and financing.
 
"Health systems strengthening is one of the core competencies of Duke and the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI), and what is clearly needed in every market is health management education," said Kevin Schulman, DGHI member and director of the Health Sector Management Program at the Fuqua School of Business. "We are fortunate to be able to host this meeting with international leaders in various fields to think about ways in which we can incorporate management education into curricula. This can go a long way to helping us achieve the goal of strengthened health systems."

The Taskforce is made up of deans and senior faculty members from schools of business, medicine, and public health, as well as leaders from national and multilateral institutions from Asia, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and the U.S.  A number of Duke faculty are also participating in the three-day meeting, including Schulman; DGHI Director Michael Merson; Manoj Mohanan, assistant research professor who leads DGHI's health systems strengthening research initiative; Jeff Moe, adjunct associate professor at Fuqua; and Krishna Udayakumar, assistant professor of medicine at Duke's School of Medicine.
 
While at Duke, the Taskforce will analyze health systems-related education models, summarize its findings and begin crafting a specific set of recommendations that can be implemented at universities and training institutions around the world.
 
The Taskforce will also hold a public event on Nov. 3 at the Connally Room of the Fuqua School of Business at 5:30 pm.  The panel will discuss health care reform efforts in South Africa, India, China and Brazil, and the audience will have an opportunity to ask questions.  The public event is sponsored by the Fuqua Health Sector Management Program, Fuqua Health Care Club and the Duke Global Health Institute.