Excited to attend a two-week course on Strengthening Human Resources for Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, I checked into my hotel in Boston on a Sunday evening. At the front desk, I received my room key and the largest binder I’ve ever seen. I settled into my room and opened the binder expecting to find some overview materials and Boston tourism brochures. Instead it was full of course outlines and required articles.
Information overload
My technical expertise is in library and information science within the context of global health, so it’s hard to intimidate me with information overload. But as I began the required readings for the first day of class, pessimism dominated my thoughts due to the reinforcement of something I already knew—addressing human resources for health (HRH) challenges can seem overwhelming.
With so many topics to cover in just two weeks, could this course really make a difference? My mind raced as I read about many different frameworks for examining health system components. Who could possibly have expertise in all these areas (i.e., finance, labor markets, policy, management, leadership) as well as public health? Read more »
After many years of stagnation, the time has come for human resources for health (HRH) to be seen as a critical issue for Africa's development agenda.
I was delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate face-to-face with Dr. Sonia Brito-Anderson recently. She leads 
Amid the continuing health workforce crisis, I think it’s important to acknowledge the positive steps that have occurred. In terms of donor support, one such area involves commitments to provide funding and support at the country level to train new health workers. 
