U. Toronto/Public Health Considers Future of Health Professional Education
Over 150 students and faculty of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH) and University of Toronto community, Canada, heard a presentation about the Lancet Commission findings by co-chair Julio Frenk, Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, on July 16, 2012. The lecture was co-
sponsored by the Global Health Division of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health in collaboration with the Graduate Student Alliance for Global Health.
Dean Frenk spoke about the Lancet report findings and recommendations, addressing competency-based education and models of inter- and trans-professional education. To create change agents for the next century, he explained, will require transformative learning. He spoke too of the follow-up initiatives at the national, regional and global levels that have occurred since publication of the report in December 2010, including those at his institution, the Harvard School of Public Health.
The session w
as moderated by Chloe McDonald, a PhD candidate, with an introduction by Professor Prabhat Jha, Director of the Centre for Research in Global Health at St. Michael’s Hospital of University of Toronto, who holds the university’s Chair in Disease Control at the DLSPH.
Meaningful discussion particularly on the intersection of transformative education and public health was stimulated by the lecture, according to Judy Kopelow, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Global Health Division at the DLSPH.
The session was closed by Abdallah Daar, Professor at DLSPH and on the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, and Chief Science a
nd Ethics Officer and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for Grand Challenges Canada. Daar commented on the timeliness of Professor Frenk's reflections on the intersection of transformative learning, interdependence and equity in health and education. “This is particularly relevant as our University of Toronto global-public health education and research programs are building to face 21st century challenges,” says Prof. Daar.
Photos:
Top: Dean Frenk flanked by PhD candidates Chloe McDonald and Sarah Higgins, who are Co-Chairs of UToronto Graduate Student Alliance for Global Health
Above left: Prof. Prabhat Jha
Above right: Prof. Abdallah Daar