Successful initiatives in interprofessional health and human rights education

Future health professionals benefit from integrated education using an interdisciplinary curricula about a shared area of interest: health and human rights. A critical knowledge area to develop through health education is a deep understanding of how to plan, manage, and evaluate public health interventions and clinical care from a rights-based approach. Though the World Medical Association has called on medical schools to make human rights part of medical curricula, in 2008, only 32% of US medical schools and 54% of US public health schools offer Health and Human Rights Education (HHRE). The student-driven HHRE movement is rapidly growing, suggesting an unmet need for education in this area.

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) strives to meet this need, providing an unparalleled network of resources for global health students who wish to engage in human rights. The PHR National Student Program offers health professional students from multiple disciplines a range of integrated education that draws on public health research and practice, medicine, nursing, policy, and law: direct training in daylong institutes, nationwide conferences, experiential learning through opportunities for leadership and advocacy, online teaching modules, and online social networking tools, including a dedicated student blog and twitter account. Students across the country connect with one another and collaborate on advocacy and new interprofessional educational projects. As a result of their PHR training, students are transforming medical and public health education by demanding, introducing, and leading courses dedicated to integrating and mainstreaming health and human rights education.