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Our alumni Julius Gilayeneh (2016-17 cohort), Wahdae-Mai Harmon and Jethro Zawolo (2017-18 cohort) share the summary of their activities on establishing a new MPH program in Liberia. "Evidence gathered from this project will be disseminated and use to inform the development of relevant policies that are lacking and other interventions."

Liberia map © Google maps
Google maps satellite image of Liberia

Upon completion of the MSc program, there has been a series of activities undertaken by the alumni of the MSc program in Liberia. 

Firstly, we were recruited by Dr Mosoka Fallah, the dean of the University of Liberia School of Public Health as part of an elite team tasked with developing syllabi, strategic plan and writing grant proposals for the newly established program: 

  • Syllabus: Along with other team members, we developed syllabi for semester one and two of the Master of Public Health Program. These documents were validated and is presently been used by the program.
  • Strategic Plan: We are currently developing a long term strategic plan for the program
  • Grant writing: With the aim of providing excellent academic experience for students which requires having proper supervision, the team in collaboration with Dr Laura Merson developed and submitted a proposal to the GCRF for ensuring supportive student supervision. The proposal was accepted and the team initially conducted a survey gauging that availability and willingness of public Health specialist to serve as supervisors for the program. Reports from the survey suggested 80 percent willingness. However, gaps to efficiently serve in this capacity were identified and included the need to provide training for potential supervisors especially in the area of Mentoring, coaching and academic supervision among other things. Based on this result, a training module was developed in consultation with the team from IDDO on mentorship, supervision and research methods. Contents were delivered by senior academician including Dr Ariana, Dr Merson among others. Also, the team is also developing a comprehensive supervision policy in sync with the University of Liberia policies.

Also, the MSc alumni from the MPH program in Liberia in collaboration with Dr Ariana and the team from the MSc course developed and presented a proposal on Maternal and Neonatal Heath in Liberia to GCRF which was also accepted. The study is geared toward accessing and identifying existing policies and gaps and interviewing different cadres of stakeholders in maternal and neonatal health in Liberia. Evidence gathered from this project will be disseminated and use to inform the development of relevant policies that are lacking and other interventions.

Secondly, the alumni are also playing significant roles in imparting knowledge to students in the program. Dr Zawolo and Dr Gilayeneh form part of the Epidemiology course team while Dr Harmon is part of the social and behavioral Science course.