Structured PhD in Health Systems Research for Africa

Course details

Researchers from three Irish institutions, six African countries and one non-governmental organisation (NGO) comprise a long-term partnership for capacity building for pro-poor health research in Africa. This programme, the Connecting Health Research in Africa and Ireland Consortium (ChRAIC),is supported by Ireland's development assistance programme, through Ireland's Higher Education Authority (HEA), and increasingly from the Irish institutions involved.

• The Irish researchers are from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG).
• The African researchers are from Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Uganda. The Malaria Consortium's main headquarters is in the UK and its main Africa office is in Uganda.
• The Council for Health Research for Development , which has unique expertise in research capacity building, and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research , which focuses on research prioritisation and research into policy processes, are both advisers to the Programme.

PhD training in Health Systems Research for Africa is one component of the Programme of research capacity strengthening. Five scholarships for this PhD were provided by Irish Aid and currently places are offered on the PhD programme for self funded candidates. The PhD programme is part of a Five YearProgramme that will provide the foundation for a long-term partnership of capacity building for pro-poor health research in selected African countries.

Year 1

The first year comprises a taught programme. Most of the Year 1 teaching is in Dublin, but the teaching are in Galway and Cork, which are around 3-4 hours train journey from Dublin. The modules include some common modules with the Health Services Research Scholars (see above), namely: Population Health; Health Informatics; Evidence Synthesis & Clinical Trials; Applying Research Methods: Quantitative & Qualitative, and; Hands on Data Analysis with STATA. Additional modules are provided by NUIG on the Social Determinants of Health and two modules, from the Masters in Global Health at Trinity College Dublin, launched in 2005 and with a focus on health systems in Low and Middle Income Countries are included.

Year 2 and 3

In year 2 and 3 fieldwork will usually be in Africa. The themes for health systems research are:

• Governance: research that contributes to strengthening the capacity of government institutions and the involvement of civil society and other stakeholders in providing services that meet the health needs of the poor.
• Human resources for health: research toidentify strategies for ensuring that health workers are available, able and motivated to deliver health services, especially to those who are poor or marginalised.
• Access and Equity: research that contributes to understanding and overcoming barriers that the poor and other disadvantaged groups experience in seeking to access health services.