Partnerships in Health Professions Education Bring Northwestern Faculty to UGHE for Certificate Program

March 2026

In June and July 2025, Northwestern faculty visited the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Kigali, Rwanda as instructors in the post-graduate Health Professions Education certificate program. Led by Ashti Doobay-Persaud, MD, co-director of the Center for Global Health Education within the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health, this teaching opportunity arose from the Partnerships for Advancement in Global Health Professions Education (PAGHE) project, which is funded by a Global Innovation Challenge Award. 

PAGHE aims to advance health professions education (HPE) globally by fostering new projects and nurturing longitudinal academic global health education partnerships, such as the one at UGHE. 

Brigid Dolan, MD, MEd, professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Department of Medical Education, leads a workshop on post-exam item analysis at University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Kigali, Rwanda.

During the visit in June, Lucas Bruton, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, and Colleen Fant, MD, co-director of the Center for Global Pediatric Health —  a joint center between the Havey Institute for Global Health and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago — supported the teaching of simulation at the UGHE simulation lab in Butaro, Rwanda, as well as the clinical teaching module. During the July visit, Brigid Dolan, MD, MEd, professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Department of Medical Education; Denise Drane, PhD, senior associate director of Research and Innovation in the Searle Center; and Doobay-Persaud held sessions on assessment, led a workshop on post-exam item analysis, and facilitated feedback on the students’ final transfer of learning plans. They supported the UGHE team on a program evaluation for the certificate and attended the certificate program’s graduation ceremony. 

Colleen Fant, MD, co-director of the Center for Global Pediatric Health, is joined by students who received training at the UGHE simulation lab.

Each teaching opportunity is arranged with the UGHE program faculty to ensure alignment with the students’ prior learning. The new faculty teams combine both approaches utilized already at Northwestern as well as create new modules and activities specific to the UGHE learners. 

Leading the effort from UGHE is Hiba Abuelgasim, PhD, the program director, who has created opportunities for international collaboration to strengthen the educational impact of the program. The certificate program had 48 students from a variety of institutions across Rwanda and is the first portion of the HPE curriculum that UGHE offers. UGHE is the first university in Rwanda and its neighboring countries to offer the full progression from certificate through masters in HPE program. 

“We are truly excited for the opportunity to work alongside our colleagues at UGHE,” Doobay-Persaud said. “These educational collaborations strengthen our shared commitment to advancing training for the next generation of health workers who will be delivering high-quality healthcare for people across the region.” 

Future teaching with the next cycle of students at UGHE is planned for August 2026 and March 2027. With the efforts in PAGHE, the Center for Global Health Education hopes to connect and offer additional teaching opportunities with other HPE programs in Africa and globally.

Ashti Doobay-Persaud, MD, is a member of the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health, Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS) and Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM).  

To learn more about the Center for Global Health Education, visit their website. 

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