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Global Health: A New Kind of Capacity Building

Capacity building for healthcare human resources comes in many forms.  This seven year program in Rwanda puts a new spin on it by having a public-private, international partnership funded through redirected international aid dollars.

I am the first to admit this is a shameless plug for a great program my employer, NYU College of Nursing, is participating in through a university consortium.  I'm involved with the team studying the impact the program will have on patient care, nursing education, and health systems outcomes.

If you're thinking about a career in global health, its good to learn about these types of partnerships.  They can mean great opportunities for field experience, the chance to learn about designing and conducting research, and most importantly, that real impact on people's lives requires a long term investment.  If you want to work in global health, you have to be willing to wait to see results and know that the changes you help to make might not be evident until you're a grandparent.

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