Strengthening Human Resources for Health

This course has been designed to provide those working in the health sector with tools and skills to understand, assess and formulate strategies to improve human resources for health. Individuals and country teams will learn from expert faculty as well as peers from other nations. During the course, all participants will create their draft country or organization strategic plan for human resources and crisis management.

Health officials in all countries need to recruit and retain skilled health workers at all levels and strengthen educational and management systems. This course will use a financial lens to achieve these goals while incorporating tools and skills to help create innovative strategies applicable to the public and private sectors.

• Learn how to effectively assess the human resource situation in your country/area;
• Examine the financing, education and labor market for effective human resource strategies;
• Learn tools to develop human resources policies (pay for performance, strategic planning, priority setting, financing, cost-effectiveness);
• Apply human resource strategies to other system topics (mental health, quality, policy, politics, etc.);
• Create own draft country-based Strategic Plan for Human Resources.

The curriculum of the course includes the following:

• Financing Assessment for Human Resources
• Education Assessment and Human Resources
• Strategic Planning and Human Resources
• Pay for Performance
• Labor Market Approach
• Leadership and Institutional Change
• Applications of Quality
• Assessment of Impact
• Evaluation of Cost Effectiveness
• Application of Politics
• Training Providers
• Strengthening Human Resources for Mental Health.

This interactive course offers a blend of theory and practice geared to an audience focused on implementation.  Included throughout the course are lectures, Q&A time, group work, case studies, problem sets, and preparation of group and individual case presentations. Facilitated discussion among participants is expected throughout the course. Participants are encouraged to have on hand their own country material and resources on health systems related to human resources development and management. 

This five-day in-person course is designed for individuals working in either the public or private sectors who are managing and/or developing strategies and policies for human resources development.  We are seeking experienced participants working in the health sector. Applicants from both government and non-governmental organizations will benefit from this course. Additionally, we encourage participation by teams of participants who can work together in the course to develop draft strategic plans for their own organizations or countries.

 We are seeking experienced participants working in healthcare on national or organizational levels. This five-day in-person course is designed for individuals from the public or private sector, managing and developing strategies and policies for HR development. Applicants from both government and non-governmental organizations will benefit from this course.  

Additionally, we encourage participation by teams of participants who can work together in the course to develop draft strategic plans for their organizations or countries. 

Dr. Diana Bowser has her primary academic appointment at Brandeis University as an associate professor and is the Course Director for Global Executive Courses within the International Health Systems Program. She has 20 years of experience in health system analysis related to health economics, health policy, and using econometric methods to evaluate health system changes in Latin America, Africa, and the United States. She has provided technical assistance and conducted research with funding from USAID, DFID, WHO, the Global Fund, Save the Children, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, IADB, NIH, and the World Bank. She has worked closely with the following governments on these policy issues: Nigeria, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Ghana, Namibia, Swaziland, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Ukraine, Kosovo, Bangladesh, and Malaysia.

Dr. Thomas J. Bossert is the former director of the International Health Systems Program at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health as well as a Senior Lecturer on Health Policy in the Department of Global Health and Population.  He led the development of the Assessing Financing, Education, Management and Policy Context for Strategic Planning of Human Resources for Health for WHO and has taught courses on strategic planning in several countries for WHO and UNICEF.  Additionally, he has directed technical assistance projects and applied research in Latin America, Asia, and Africa on decentralization, institutional transformation, and health policy reform.