universitas 21
Universitas 21 Health Sciences

Annual Meetings - Virginia 2008

University of Virginia

Vice President and Provost of the University of Virginia (UVa), Dr Tim Garson, hosted the 2008 annual meeting of the U21 Health Sciences group.

More than 90 delegates from medicine and public health, dentistry, nursing, and health and rehabilitation sciences, attended this year's meeting and associated events in Charlottesville (17-19 September 2008).

Major themes for the morning multidisciplinary sessions included the pandemic of obesity, the use of technology to augment clinical care, simulation programmes and outcomes, models of e-learning, and foreign credential recognition strategies.

The various discipline groups convened separately over two afternoons. The discipline group meetings provided colleagues with an opportunity to explore specific issues and follow up on matters introduced during the multidisciplinary segment of the annual meeting. U21 Pharmacy did not attend the meeting in Charlottesville. The pharmacy group will join U21 colleagues at the 2009 meeting in Seoul, Korea.

Associated events included a workshop on the U21 United Nations Millennium Development Goals (UN MDG) initiative; an e-health symposium; and a nursing doctoral student forum.

Outcomes of the annual meeting and associated events include new initiatives and ongoing development of current projects.

The following U21 universities were represented:

U21 Health Science Group
U21 Health Sciences delegates

View the attendee list [PDF 16.4kB].

 

UN MDG Workshop (14-15 September 2008)

A major and ongoing focus for the U21 Health Sciences group is to advance within the education and clinical contexts, the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations in 2000, and this year's annual U21 Health Sciences meeting was preceded by a two-day event to further the work that the U21 Health Sciences group is carrying out in this area.

Around 30 delegates participated in the UN MDG workshop, as did representatives from organizations such as AIFOMD (an international foundation for educators in the UN MDGs) and the World Family Organization (WFO). Several medical students from U21 universities reported on their placements undertaken overseas or locally in poorer areas. Whilst gaining valuable medical experience, these placements provided the students with exposure to the critical importance of the UN MDGs in relation to good health, including the need for adequate housing and infrastructure.

In collaboration with the University of Hong Kong, students from Tec de Monterrey are developing a UN MDG for health web portal for medical students and staff to share good practices in relation to UN MDGs, and students at the University of Queensland have also devised a UN MDG web site.

Work is already underway on introductory UN MDG course content for medical students and this content will be developed for use by nursing, physiotherapy and dentistry students.

The workshop culminated in the drafting of a UN MDG Interest Group Declaration [PDF 28.9kB] specifically to develop the essential UN MDG course content, to pilot the course in participating institutions/schools, to establish an overall evaluation framework, and to improve communication to stimulate cross fertilization, recognition and collaboration.

At the U21 Health Sciences Executive Committee meeting in Charlottesvile on 18 September, it was agreed that the Executive would consider and determine an application for seed funding for the initiative upon submission of a business case from the UN MDG interest group. The Executive also endorsed the proposal that the UN MDG interest group work with the U21 Presidents' UN MDG group, towards securing appropriate resources to animate the strategy outlined in the Declaration, over the next year and beyond.

View the UN MDG workshop programme [PDF18.6kB ].

View available presentations:

 

Global e-health Symposium (16 September 2008)

The morning session of the global e-health symposium included reports on interprofessional e-health, the telehealth for under-served communities initiative, and e-health policy; as well as presentations on the University of Virginia's telehealth programame; health information exchange within the American context; and developments in telerehabilitation at the University of Queensland. During the afternoon, the U21 Health Sciences e-health steering committee met to reflect on developments to date and to determine future directions.

Developments in interprofessional (IP) e-health to date include preparation of a paper based on a study of interprofessional e-health within the U21 network, submitted for publication to the Journal of Interprofessional Care, and development of a web portal featuring interprofessional e-health projects within U21.

It was recognized that there was synergy between the UN MDG work being undertaken and a proposed U21 IP e-health project to link with a less economically developed country (LEDC) to explore ehealth success and needs, and to learn and understand how best to support ehealth within that context.

As Chair of the IP e-health steering committee, Kendall Ho reported to the Executive on the proposed project and potential synegy with the UN MDG initiative, in terms of both education and clinical activities. The Executive acknowledged the importance of interprofessional involvement and input in the development of the UN MDG introductory course, noting that the proposed project with a designated LEDC would incorporate e-health into the UN MDG needs assessment.

Telehealth developments include the 'telehealth to under-served communities' initiative involving facilitation of electronic specialist advice to doctors on-site by U21 medical students. In 2008-2009, work will be undertaken to develop robust mechanisms to manage future student placements. Global e-health steering committee members are contributing authors in a book titled 'Telehealth in the developing world' to be published by the Royal Society of Medicine Press in February 2009. The book focuses on successful telehealth solutions in the developing world.

Developments in e-health policy to date include the e-health conference series funded by the Rockefeller Foundation culminating in a series of proposals including development of e-health resources, networks and marketing/communication strategies. A major focus for the e-health steering committee in 2008-2009 will be the development of strategies to ensure momentum on e-health policy within the WHO e-health working group.

View the U21 e-health symposium programme [PDF 21.7kB].

View available presentations:

 

Nursing doctoral student forum (14-17 September 2008)

A third nursing doctoral student forum was held prior to the annual meeting. In addition to local participants at the University of Virginia, doctoral students came from Australia, (Queensland), Singapore, the United Kingdom (Nottingham), and Hong Kong.

The forum comprised key presentations from a nurse and a physician researcher at the University of Virginia. Both presentations highlighted international interdisciplinary research collaboration. Participating doctoral students were given the opportunity to present on their research topics and to discuss their research, and to network with fellow doctoral students and nursing colleagues within an international context. Participants were also invited to meet with researchers in their areas of interest and to tour clinical facilities in Charlottesville. The results of an evaluation of the forum will be made available in the near future.

View the U21 nursing doctoral student forum programme [PDF 12.6kB].

View available presentations:

View the participant and topic list [PDF 12.4kB].

View the participants' abstracts [PDF 50kB].

View available student presentations:

 

The Core Meeting Programme - selected presentations, reports and notes

The multidisciplinary segment of the 2008 meeting took place over three mornings (17-19 September).

Major themes and keynote presentations focused on the pandemic of obesity; the use of technology to augment clinical care; simulation programmes and outcomes; models of e-learning; and foreign credential recognition strategies. The programme also included a report on the proceedings and outcomes arising from the UN MDG workshop and the e-health symposium.

The U21 Health Sciences Executive met on the second day of the meeting.

The annual meeting concluded with a series of brief presentations, including reports from each of the discipline groups and the Executive. A presentation introducing participants to next year's meeting at Korea University was provided by host Dean, Heung Sik Na.

View the core meeting programme [PDF 33.4kB].

 

CORE MEETING PROGRAMME - DAY 1

Keynote Speech 1: The Global Scope of Obesity and Co-Morbidities (Anthony McCall) [PDF 493kB]

Panel Discussion 1 –
Model programs focused on the Pandemic of Obesity

View the panelist presentations:

Panel Discussion 2 –
Local, regional and national policies to effect change in the Pandemic of Obesity

View the panelist presentations:

UN Millennium Development Goal Initiative

Report on the UN MDG workshop (Kendall Ho) [PDF 642kB]

The Student Experience (N Patil) [PDF 1.32MB]

 

CORE MEETING PROGRAMME - DAY 2

Keynote Speech 2: The Use of Technology to Augment Clinical Care (James Harrison) [PDF 1.92MB]

Panel Discussion 3 –
Simulation: programmes and outcomes

View the panelist presentations:

Panel Discussion 4 –
Models for e-learning and teaching including distance learning and patient education

View the panelist presentations:

U21 Health Sciences Executive Committee meeting

View the notes of the meeting [PDF 30kB].

Reports

 

CORE MEETING PROGRAMME - DAY 3

Keynote Speech 3: A Global perspective on Foreign Credential Recognition Strategies (Prof Lesleyanne Hawthorne) [PDF 149kB]

Report from the Executive Committee (Gillian Webb) [PDF 130kB]

Brief presentation on Korea University from 2009 Host Dean (Heung Sik Na) [PDF 7.85MB]

 

THE DISCIPLINE GROUP MEETINGS - programmes, selected presentations, reports

Following on from the multidisciplinary programme, the discipline groups convened separately over two afternoons to discuss a range of issues. Meeting programmes included both discipline-specific and multidisciplinary issues, as well as follow up on a range of matters including previously identified projects, proposed initiatives, and key meeting themes.

 

Medicine

The U21 medicine group's meeting comprised presentations and discussion on a range of topics including global obesity; the Swinfen Charitable Trust and provision of telehealth for developing countries; opportunities for medical student exchange; faculty development and leadership programmes at the University of Virginia; trends in the organization and management of American academic health centres; and the rewards and challenges involved in interprofessional research and interprofessional education.

View U21 Medicine meeting agenda [PDF 37.9kB].

View available presentations:

View the meeting report [PDF 135kB].

 

Dentistry

The U21 dentistry meeting included discussion and presentations on the International Dental Student Peer Review project currently involving students from the University of British Columbia and the Universities of Melbourne and Birmingham; an update on the Trans-cultural Communication project; discussion on indigenous outreach initiatives including the proposed project to teach dental students in developing countries oral medicine via the internet; and a progress report on the web-based forensic odontology teaching initiative.

View U21 Dentistry meeting agenda [PDF 48.2kB].

View available presentations:

View the meeting report [PDF 12.5kB].

 

Nursing

Topics discussed during the nursing meeting included benchmarking, student exchange, clinical education funding, and teaching clinical skills to students. During the discussion on a draft paper on benchmarking within U21 nursing, the complexity of benchmarking within an international context was highlighted, although it was acknowledged that the benchmarking template could be useful for new nursing schools. Participants were provided with an overview of nursing student exchange between the University of Auckland and the University of Virginia, and a proposed program of virtual student exchange involving student groups from Lund, Nottingham, Birmingham, Singapore and Auckland was also outlined. Following a report on the data gathered on clinical education models, it was agreed to further explore the wide variability between U21 member universities. On day 2 of the meeting, discussion focused on community models of nurse led care in the face of lifestyle related disorder pandemics; the use of simulation in teaching clinical skills; and the new Clinical Nurse Leader model at the University of Virginia.

View the nursing meeting agenda [PDF 44.5kB].

View available presentations:

View the meeting report [PDF 39kB].

 

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Participants focused on collaborative research opportunities, resulting in a likely telerehabilitation project between the University of Queensland and the University of Nottingham; involvement in the U21 Health Sciences / UN MDG initiative with involvement in UN MDG course design; interprofessional e-health; and collaborative learning and teaching opportunities, resulting in a proposal that delegates from the University of Melbourne, Queensland and Nottingham conduct professional seminars on physiotherapy education at Korea University in Seoul, in conjunction with the 2009 U21 Health Sciences meeting.

View the Health & Rehabilitation Sciences meeting agenda [PDF 32.2kB].

View the meeting report [PDF 82.8kB].

 

Summary of Annual Meeting Outcomes

A major focus for U21 Health Sciences over 2008-2009 is ongoing development of the U21 UN MDG initiative, as outlined in the U21 Health Sciences UN MDG Declaration [PDF 28.9kB]. Following the workshop in Charlottesville, the UN MDG interest group now comprises representatives from nursing and physiotherapy, to advance the essential UN MDG course content for health sciences students as well as medical students. This group will work with key international bodies and the broader U21 Health Sciences membership to devise course content and to pilot the course, and a report on the process and outcomes will be prepared for presentation and discussion at the 2009 meeting in Korea. The dentistry group will explore involvement in the U21 UN MDG initiative at their 2009 meeting. The University of British Columbia will lead the development of an overall evaluation framework, and a major aim of the interest group is to develop a coordinated engagement and communication strategy, with strategic links to the broader U21 network and relevant international bodies.

An application for seed funding for the initiative will be considered and determined by the U21 Health Sciences Executive upon submission of a business case from the UN MDG steering committee, and the steering committee will work with the U21 Presidents' UN MDG group, towards securing appropriate resources to animate the strategy outlined in the Declaration, over the next year and beyond.

The Executive acknowledged the importance of interprofessional involvement and input in the development of the UN MDG introductory course and also noted the synergy between the UN MDG initiative and the proposed interprofessional e-health project to link with a less economically developed country (LEDC) to explore ehealth success and needs, and to learn and understand how best to support ehealth within that context.

In 2008-2009, work will be undertaken to develop robust mechanisms to manage future student placements in the U21 telehealth for under-served communities initiative, and linkages with the Swinfen Charitable Trust network will be explored. A major focus for the e-health steering committee will be the development of strategies to ensure momentum on e-health policy within the WHO e-health working group.

Ongoing curriculum and e-health initiatives include U21 Dentistry's project designed to promote BLOG format dialogue and collaboration between dental students internationally, with the aim of facilitating dental students to develop professionalism, global awareness and global citizenship. The project currently includes students from the University of British Columbia and the Universities of Melbourne and Birmingham. A forensic odontology e-learning project using web-based delivery has been positively evaluated by participating students in Melbourne and Birmingham and this project will be developed further over 2008-2009. The on-line forensic odontology course approach is likely to be used as the model for a new project being led by dentistry at the University of Melbourne involving the use of oral medicine web-based lecture material for dental students in developing countries. In response to the keynote address on foreign credential recognition strategies from a global perspective, delivered during the meeting in Charlottesville, dentistry colleagues will revisit the topic of the effect of globalization on the dental workforce at the 2009 meeting of the Association of Dental Education in Europe.

Work on projects and grant opportunities relating to ehealth and telerehabilitation in physiotherapy will continue in 2008-2009 and will include collaboration between the University of Queensland and the University of Nottingham.

Student exchange was discussed by the medicine group and the nursing group in Charlottesville and student exchange has been flagged by dentistry and physiotherapy as a topic for discussion in Seoul in 2009. Overcoming issues of course equivalence, cost, timing, and indemnity, U21 nurses have implemented a programme of final-year student exchange between the University of Auckland and the University of Virginia, and nursing student exchange between the University of Auckland and the University of Queensland is proposed for 2009. In addition, a 'virtual student exchange' initiative involving groups of nursing students at Lund University and the Universities of Auckland, Birmingham, Nottingham, and Singapore is about to commence. Using a web-based platform, this virtual exchange project will facilitate participating students to network internationally, explore the health care systems of other countries, and debate global health care issues.

Work on documenting and disseminating U21 Health Sciences projects and initiatives continues. Global e-health steering committee members are contributing authors to a book focusing on successful telehealth solutions in the developing world to be published by the Royal Society of Medicine Press in February 2009. A paper based on a study of interprofessional e-health initiatives around the U21 network by the Interprofessional e-health steering committee has been submitted for publication to the Journal of Interprofessional Care. Following the meeting in Charlottesville, the nursing group will refine a draft paper on benchmarking clinical teaching within an international context, prior to submission to a referreed journal.

The 2009 U21 Health Sciences meeting will be hosted by Korea University in Seoul and is scheduled to take place in the week beginning 12 October 2009. The meeting programme will be devised in conjunction with the U21 Health Sciences Executive Committee over the coming months. Details of any associated events, including a proposed leadership workshop, will be provided when available.

 

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