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Title: Global Oral Health: Delivering oral health in low and middle income countries - from policy to programmes and care
Keywords: Primary Health Care
Non-communicable diseases
Multi/inter-sectorial approach
Health Policy
Disease prevention, control and elimination
Country: Germany
Institution: Germany - Institute of International Health, Berlin
Course coordinator: Julian Fisher
Date start: 2023-06-19
Date end: 2023-06-23
About duration and dates: 1 week (face-toface) + plus 2 day pre-module exercise + 2 days for proposal development (submission deadline 1 week after face-to-face week
Classification: advanced optional
Mode of delivery: Face to face
Course location: Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health,
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Campus Virchow-Klinikum
Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany
ECTS credit points: 2.5 ECTS credits
SIT: 75 hours SIT
Contact: 30 hours (14.5 hours lectures + 9.5 hours Group work + 3 hours field visit + 2 hours exam + 1 hour Evaluation)
Self-study: 15 hours (during face-to-face week) + 13 hours pre-module exercises (see 14. content) + 17 hours for written assignment after “module week”)
Language: English
Description: At the end of the module students should be able to:
• Plan the steps for developing and implementing programmes and interventions to respond to a context specifc oral health challenge or problem
• Critically appraise the evidence on oral disease prevention and control interventions including operational challenges
• Analyse the strengths and limitations of policies and strategies for oral health in low and middle income countries
• Define key social, cultural and environmental determinants of health that influence people’s oral health
Assessment Procedures: A 2 hour closed book multiple choice/short answer exam (ca. 25 questions, accounting 33% to the overall mark)
The exam will cover theoretical aspects of the module. The student passes the exam if ≥ 60% of the questions are answered correctly. An exam mark below 60% but ≥50% can be equalised with a good mark in the assignment (see below) if the overall mark is ≥60%
If the student fails s/he can re-sit (up to 2 times) on a date agreed on with the module coordinator (preferably within 4 weeks after the module).

An assignment (1500-2500 words, accounting 67% to the overall mark).

The assignment assesses the capability of the student to analyse oral policies in low and middle income countries and to demonstrate the steps to develop and implement context specific programmes and interventions for oral health. For the assignment students are asked to select a country or region or city within an LMIC country and to:

1. Describe an oral health problem or challenge in their chosen setting and frame it within the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (15% weight in the assignment’s grading)
2. Analyse policy and societal responses to oral health in LMICs (20% weight in the assignment’s grading)
3. Identify and describe public policies across sectors that could promote oral health and help address the identified oral health problem or challenge, as well as policy challenges and opportunities (10% weight in the assignment’s grading)
4. Propose ways to develop oral health policies and associated strategies (15% weight in the assignment’s grading)
5. Describe the components of basic package of oral care, and key practical aspects of the care, and how they could be applied to context specific programme and intervention for oral health (30% weight in the assignment’s grading)
6. List challenges for implementation and operationalisation of oral health programmes and interventions making reference to 5. (10% weight in the assignment’s grading)

Each student will receive an individual feedback on the assignment and a grade using a rubric matrix. Students pass the assignment if they gain 60% or more of the achievable points. A mark below 60% but ≥50% in the assignment can be equalised with a good mark in the multiple choice exam (see above) if the overall mark is ≥60%. If a student fails the assignment, s/he is allowed to revise and resubmit the assignment considering the comments provided by the marker (resit marks are not capped).

Students receives two grades based on their overall mark, one according to the German (absolute) 6 point decimal grading system (1.0 [excellent/sehr gut] – 6.0 [not sufficient/ungenügend], pass mark: ≤ 4.0 [sufficient/ausreichend] and one according to the (relative) ECTS grading system (A top 10%, B next 25%, C next 30, D next 25%, E lowest 10%).
Content: The course will cover the following topics:
Pre-module exercises: A written self-study exercise where students
• would map oral health across the 17 SDGs from the context of course participants, and
• indentify a problem/issue in their own context that they would like to address and develop an action plan for. This will be submitted to and discussed with the course coordinator before the start of the course in order to help integrate the students’ experiences into the main course.

Day 1:
• Introduction to module, why oral health as global health priority (30 mins)
• Oral health between and across the 17 SDGs, including universal health coverage (lecture) (1.5 hr)
• Intersection of Planetary Health, One Health and Oral Health; implications for programmes and care (lecture) (1 hr)
• New ways of thinking and working; developing policy to implement a preventive model of oral health in LMICs, case study Malawi (lecture) (1.5 hr)
• Group work; review of pre-module work (1.5 hr)
• Self-study and work on individual action plan (3 hr)
Day 2
• Oral diseases as a noncommunicable disease and their common risk factors across the lifecourse; implications for services and care in LMICs (lecture) (1 hr)
• Integrating oral heath across health programmes, case study HIV AIDS and tobacco cessation (lecture) (1 hr)
• Advocating for oral health, the case of Noma with case study from Nigeria from WHO African Region, MSF and NGO (2.5 hr)
• Develop and present a policy brief for Noma as a neglected tropical disease. Group work (1.5 hr)
• Self-study (3 hr)
Day 3:
• Oral health in remote and rural settings, case studies Nepal and India (lecture) (1.5 hr)
• Oral health in conflicts and humanitarian crisis, case study of Syria (lecture) (1.5 hr)
• Maternal, Child and Neonatal Oral Health & Reproductive Health; policy to practice, case study Columbia (3 hr)
• Self-study (3 h)
Day 4
• Introduction to basic package of oral health care and essential medcines (lecture) (1 h)
• What can I do? practical aspects of oral care, including ‘hands-on’ benchtop practice, case study Peru (lecture and exercise) (3h)
• Delivering oral heath programmes in schools and communities, case study of childsmile from Chile and Rwanda. (2 hr)
• Self-study (3 h)
Day 5
• Oral health inequalities with a focus on refugee and migrant oral health, field Visits in Berlin (3 h)
• Written exam (2 h)
• Feedback & Evaluation & Instructions for essay (1 h)
• Self study (3 hr)
Methods: The course uses participatory learning, based on lectures with discussions (14.5 hrs), supervised/guided group work (9.5 hours) and field visits (3 hours), as well as self-directed learning (23 hrs), and a written assignment (17 h)
Prerequisites: Successful completion of the core course.
English TOEFL test 550 or 213 computer-based or 79/80 internet-based or IELTS band 6.0.
Attendance: Max. number of students: 30
Students have to attend 85% of the face-to-face week.
Selection: first come, first serve
Fees: 687,50 € tropEd MScIH students and alumni
859,38 € for guest students
Scholarships: None available
tropEd accreditation: Accredited Online June GA 2021, valid until June 2026
Remarks: The module is based on WHO Oral Health resolution 2021.

The moderator has been involved in supporting global oral health policy and programmes for over 15 years.

Preparatory reading on oral health is required. WHO and other publications will be provided to participants ahead of the module.

Key literature

1. A dedicated eBook will be provided for all course participants for 1.i. and 1.ii. which will draw on high quality resources, including short video and animated illustrations. The eBook will be linked to a website with more information and resources
i. Integreated oral health, including programmatic areas; for example Integrating oral health into NCD programmes, and healthy ageing e.g.: https://www.fdiworlddental.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/ohap-2018-advocacy_doc-achieving_healthy_ageing_society.pdf
ii. Basic oral health; anatomy, physiology include human and oral biome. For example cell-to-cell communication. Oral health and systemic health: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAk73Vo3OZ0

2. Key WHO oral health policy dcuments
i. WHO 2021 Oral Health resolution https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB148/B148_R1-en.pdf
ii. Oral health Achieving better oral health as part of the universal health coverage and noncommunicable disease agendas towards 2030 https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB148/B148_8-en.pdf
Email Address: mscih-coordinator@charite.de
Date Of Record Creation: 2021-07-05 07:48:18 (W3C-DTF)
Date Of Record Release: 2021-07-05 12:52:08 (W3C-DTF)
Date Record Checked: 2021-07-05 (W3C-DTF)
Date Last Modified: 2023-01-11 13:21:53 (W3C-DTF)

Fifteen years of the tropEd Masters in International Health programme: what has it delivered? Results of an alumni survey of masters students in international health

L. Gerstel1, P. A. C. Zwanikken1, A. Hoffman2, C. Diederichs3, M. Borchert3 and B. Peterhans2

1 Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2 Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
3 Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charite – Universit€atsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany