Pro­jects in Health­care Man­age­ment

In 2005 the HNU was selected as the academic professional partner for further education in health management by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The duration of this programme was over one year in total (2-month orientation, 3-month language course, 4-month study course, 3-month internship). More than 120 doctors and hospital administrators from East and Central African countries successfully completed their further education in health management.

Project manager: Prof. Dr. Rainer Burk
Project sponsor: GIZ
Project duration: 2005-2012

On behalf of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) the Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences (HNU) organized an international DAAD Alumni Expert Seminar "Creating eLearning Lessons to support Hospital Management in Africa". The seminar took place in April and May 2017 in Neu-Ulm and was followed by participation in the conference re:publica in Berlin.

The seminar was supported by the DAAD in the framework of the programme Alumni Special Projects. The costs were covered by funds from the DAAD provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Main objective of the seminar was the development and implementation of eLearning lessons with audio and video for hospital staff training or for information provision for patients from African hospitals. The seminar enabled participants to transfer their knowledge to other employees in their hospitals and spread their knowledge also to other hospitals.

Sub-objectives:

• To improve the instructional design competencies and develop a know-how for the use of authoring software
• To enable the participants to create eLearning units including animations, quizzes and to create multi-media content
• Networking activities

HNU was selected as academic professional partner by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to run an extensive programme in healthcare management. This programme was designed to provide hospital managers (medical doctors, nurses, managers and administrators) with the necessary knowledge to extend their competences and improve their skills. In 2013, HNU conducted a 4-month specialized training course, 5-month blended learning course, and an alumni programme for more than 150 healthcare experts from East and Central African countries.

Project duration: October 2012 - 2014
Project leader: Prof. Dr. Rainer Burk

Specialized Training Course

The specialized course was addressed to medical doctors, nurses, managers and administrators of hospitals or similar professions and institutions in healthcare coming from Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania.

Blended Learning

The course followed a blended learning method, with the online modules being followed by a face-to-face workshop. The entire course was supported by a tutor, who was in direct contact with the participants throughout the modules.  The continuous interaction amongst participants, as well as between participants, tutor, and lecturers is an integral part of the course's design. There were several tools available on the eLearning platform which facilitated interaction, communication, and cooperation.

Alumni

The Alumni programme was addressed to over 150 healthcare experts from East and Central Africa. During several online chats challenges, opportunities, and experiences in hospital management were discussed. As incentive for alumni to  participate actively in the chats a point system was introduced. Only those alumni who achieve a certain point score were allowed to attend the alumni conference in March 2014 in Kenya.

In order to provide an MBA in Hospital Management to those students who had successfully completed their ILT course, HNU established and conducted a two-month intensive course at African partner universities, whereupon the students wrote their Master's thesis under the supervision of lecturers from HNU.

Implementation in 2010 and 2011 at Mzumbe University, Tanzania; and in 2014 at the University of Eldoret, Kenya. 42 doctors and hospital administrators from East and Central African countries participated.

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Rainer Burk
Project duration: 2010 - 2014

A research project of the Department of Health Management aims to improve drug supply management in hospital pharmacies of east and central African countries. Based on long term cooperation with African experts in healthcare management, analyses in hospital pharmacies have been carried out. Several factors determine the accessibility of drugs, e.g. serious shortcomings in procurement logistics, insufficient storage capacity and storage organization as well as lack of knowledge in material management and pharmacy management.

Project duration: 2010 - 2013
Project leader: Prof. Dr. Rainer Burk

1. Project start (November to December 2010)
   1. Analysis of current situation
   2. short term solution
   3. participatory approach
2. Documentation of findings and development of best practice approach (January to October 2011)
   1. Project report
   2. Concept development
   3. Fundraising
   4. Feedback of short term solution
3. Realisation and implementation of pilot project in Nyakahanga Designated District Hospital, Tanzania (end of 2011)
   1. Implementation concept
   2. Installation
   3. Training
4. Evaluation (end of 2013)
   1. Final report
   2. Project evaluation