Building Public Health Quantitative Methods Capacity and Networks in sub-Saharan Africa: An Evaluation of a Faculty Training Program

Abstract

Introduction: There is a shortage of individuals trained in using quantitative methods in biomedical research in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Improving public health in SSA requires new ways to promote quantitative knowledge and skills among faculty in biomedical research and better-integrated network systems of support. Methods: We describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of an innovative faculty training and support program in SSA from December 2017-June 2020, using courses in monitoring and evaluation, data management, and complex surveys as prototypical examples. Indicators were selected to follow the 4 levels outlined in the Kirkpatrick evaluation model: reaction, learning, behavior, and results. We used survey data from faculty fellows and students and reported median change and interquartile ranges (IQR). Results: The training program created an international community of 26 faculty members working collaboratively to lead the training of 3 quantitative methods courses. The program increased faculty members' knowledge of the course content (median increase 17 percentage points [IQR: 0, 20]). Faculty members, in turn, trained 380 students at institutions of higher education in 8 SSA countries (Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda). Conclusion: The program relied on collaborative funding from participating institutions and focused on individual capacity-strengthening. In the future, the program will be scaled to include other emerging areas, such as data science, will integrate institutional support and feedback, and will move some of the training and mentoring activities to an online platform. Finally, to ensure that faculty have both improved confidence and improvement in competence, in future iterations, the program will include competency evaluation at the start and end and pair fellows who need additional training with those who excelled to co-teach.