Understanding Global Primary Care Delivery
While primary health care is a rubric frequently invoked as a care-delivery or sociopolitical ideal, little systematic, rigorous understanding exists of how this care is actually organized and delivered in different contexts around the world to create value for health systems and societies. This initiative aims to develop a conceptual framework for analyzing different approaches to primary care delivery and then refine the framework by studying representative examples of primary health care around the world. The product of this work will be a series of case studies and a summative report, as well as novel curricular materials for training medical students and residents.
Developing Interdisciplinary Pilot Projects for Trainees and Faculty
This is a critical time globally for innovating new, higher-value models of care delivery, particularly models that better care for socioeconomically vulnerable and medically frail populations. This initiative creates opportunities for students of medicine and other academic disciplines to collaborate with each other and with faculty members to conduct research and scholarship aimed at developing, piloting, and evaluating innovative approaches to primary health care delivery to be implemented at “effector arms,” including Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Cambridge Health Alliance, and at partner sites in countries such as Brazil, Haiti, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Creating a New Primary Health Care Curriculum for Harvard Medical School
Addressing the renewed emphasis on primary care at HMS and the burgeoning understanding that medical students must be trained in nontraditional skill sets to lead and thrive in new models of health care delivery, the Program is creating novel curricular offerings for medical students that may be chosen as electives during the preclinical and/or clinical years. These include both didactics and coordinated field experiences with faculty mentors, working in collaboration with students and faculty of other academic disciplines, including engineering, management, and public policy.