Development, implementation, and assessment of a transdisciplinary course to train future members of the HIV workforce

Issues: It has been 10 years since the World Health Organization (2004) called urgently for increased mobilization of human resources to address the HIV pandemic. With less than a year remaining to meet HIV prevention and treatment targets of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and the U.S. National HIV/AIDS Strategy, many countries, including the U.S., face a limited public health workforce trained to confront HIV.  Description: From 2009 to 2014, we developed, implemented, and assessed a 17-week HIV course –part of a global health track– to three cohorts combining undergraduate health science and public health graduate students (n=66) at a large west coast public university. The goals were to spark interest in HIV careers; begin the training of future HIV workforce members; and address the multilevel complexity of the pandemic by examining HIV across disciplinary boundaries traditionally maintained by epidemiology, biomedicine, history, social sciences, law, or any other single academic or applied field. Participation included interaction with HIV-related institutions and professionals from the community. We engaged in a case study analysis to assess the utility of this approach. Lessons Learned: Studying HIV using a transdisciplinary approach within an overarching public health context was effective in initiating and enhancing student interest; transmitting HIV-related knowledge and skills; motivating subsequent, advanced HIV education; and launching HIV-related careers. Recommendations: HIV training using a transdisplinary paradigm shows promise in baseline preparation of future members of the HIV workforce. As next steps, we recommend comparative assessments of similar programs using longitudinal tracking of student outcomes.