Improving public health training and research capacity in Africa: a replicable model for linking training to health and socio-demographic surveillance data.
BACKGROUND
Research training for public health professionals is key to the future of public health and policy in Africa. A growing number of schools of public health are connected to health and socio-demographic surveillance system field sites in developing countries, in Africa and Asia in particular. Linking training programs with these sites provides important opportunities to improve training, build local research capacity, foreground local health priorities, and increase the relevance of research to local health policy.


OBJECTIVE
To increase research training capacity in public health programs by providing targeted training to students and increasing the accessibility of existing data.


METHODS
This report is a case study of an approach to linking public health research and training at the University of the Witwatersrand. We discuss the development of a sample training database from the Agincourt Health and Socio-demographic Surveillance System in South Africa and outline a concordant transnational intensive short course on longitudinal data analysis offered by the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Colorado-Boulder. This case study highlights ways common barriers to linking research and training can be overcome.


CONCLUSIONS
This collaborative effort demonstrates that linking training to ongoing data collection can improve student research, accelerate student training, and connect students to an international network of scholars. Importantly, the approach can be adapted to other partnerships between schools of public health and longitudinal research sites.
Williams
Jill R
JR
Population Program, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
Schatz
Enid J
EJ
Clark
Benjamin D
BD
Collinson
Mark A
MA
Clark
Samuel J
SJ
Menken
Jane
J
Kahn
Kathleen
K
Tollman
Stephen M
SM
PLoS Med. 2008 Feb;5(2):e57
18303944
Trop Med Int Health. 1999 Jun;4(6):433-41
10444319
Bull World Health Organ. 2007 Dec;85(12):914-22
18278250
Scand J Public Health Suppl. 2007 Aug;69:8-20
17676498
Trop Med Int Health. 2000 Nov;5(11):824-31
11123832
Scand J Public Health Suppl. 2007 Aug;69:26-34
17676500
J Ethn Migr Stud. 2006 May;32(4):633-648
20396611
Bull World Health Organ. 2007 Dec;85(12):902-3
18278241
Scand J Public Health Suppl. 2007 Aug;69:35-44
17676501
Stroke. 2004 Mar;35(3):627-32
14963282
Health Policy Plan. 2001 Dec;16(4):337-44
11739357
Bull World Health Organ. 2000;78(1):125-34
10686747
Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2004 Jun;8(6):796-9
15182153
Scand J Public Health Suppl. 2007 Aug;69:138-46
17676515
Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2001 Jul;5(7):619-27
11467368
Scand J Public Health Suppl. 2007 Aug;69:165-74
17676519
Bull World Health Organ. 2007 Dec;85(12):963-5; discussion 966-70
18278257